For the Love of a Gatomon
by Sonimon
Summary: Due to popular request, this Veegato Veemon and Gatomon romantic comedy is back! Oh yeah, this thing is rated T but it comes REALLY close to M, so watch out.
1. The Plan

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 1:  The Plan

     It was about 11:00PM and Veemon and Davis were fast asleep.  Davis was, as usual, snoring really loudly and Veemon woke up for what had to be the third time that night.  He looked over with disdain at the snoring, drooling, mess that was his partner.  It was times like these that Veemon really wished he had a camera.  Davis was wearing only his boxers and seemed to be having some sort of soccer-like dream.  He was thrashing around wildly, apparently landing goal after goal since he celebrated with a pronounced "Yea for me!" after each kick.  Veemon rolled his eyes and got walloped right out of the bed by a side kick from Davis.

            "Ouch!" he cried, landing with a thud.  He rubbed his tummy where the kick had landed and, grumbling, went off to find somewhere else to sleep.

            He moved from the bedroom into the living room and hopped up onto the couch for some rest.

            "At last," he thought, "Some sleep."  He got comfy and rested for a bit.  A few minutes passed but he just couldn't go back to sleep.  Something was missing.  He sat up and looked around, as though to see if anyone was watching.  Veemon got a pillow from one of the chairs and wrapped his arms around it, lying back down on his side on the couch.

            "Gatomon....," he murmured, slowly falling to sleep.  Yes, it was pathetic and he knew it, but Veemon couldn't help himself.  Telling Veemon that Gatomon would never be his was like telling a bear it wasn't allowed to hibernate.  Veemon only clutched the pillow harder as a small tear dropped from his eye.  It was always a challenge to keep his feelings a secret.  If any of the other digimon found out how cowardly he was when it came to talking to girls, he'd be a laughing stock.  He WAS after all supposed to be the digimon of courage.  Finally, his eyes shot open.

            "That does it!  No more of this for me!" he said, sitting up, "I'm finally gonna do it!  I'm going to give her a call and ask her out right NOW!"  He hopped off of the couch and picked up the phone from the wall.  Veemon took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and dialed up the Kamiya's telephone number.  He waited patiently.  Finally, an exhausted voice picked up on the other end.  It was Tai.

            "Hello?" he asked, sounding like he'd just been hit with a bat.

            "Uh hi, is Gatomon there?" asked Veemon, suddenly nervous.

            "Wah?  Who's this?" asked Tai.

            "This is... this is... Uh...." said Veemon, having forgotten his own name, "No one.  I'vegottagogoodbye!"  He yelled, quickly hanging up.  Veemon slumped down against the wall.  He whimpered and put his hands over his eyes.

            "I can't believe I'm such a dork," he said aloud, "No!  No more of this!  I'm gonna call them right back and demand to speak to her!"  With newly-found courage, he grabbed the phone and started pushing buttons again.

******Back at the Kamiya Residence******

            Kari sleepily looked over at Tai who had just hung up.

     "Who was that on the phone?" she asked.

            "A guy with a wrong number.  He said he was looking for Gatomon," said Tai.

            "Oh," sighed Kari, falling back into sleep.  Just then, the phone wrung again.  Tai grumbled and walked back to the phone.

            "Yeah?" he asked.

            "Tai?  This is Veemon.  I'd like to speak to Gatomon please!" Veemon said, as bravely as he could.

            "Oh ok," said Tai, "Hey Gatomon, you've got another call.  It's Veemon this time."  Gatomon yawned and got out of bed.  She took the phone from Tai who went back to his bed.

            "This had better be important," she grumbled, to herself, "What is it Veemon?"

            ".....Uh..." he said, forgetting everything after hearing her voice.

            "..Well??" she asked, ticked off.

            "Um.. how's it going?" he asked.

            "......You called me up at 11:00 at night just to ask me how I'm doing?" she asked, her right eye twitching.

            "Um... yes?" he asked, unsure of how to respond.

            "Rrrghhh!!!  It's the middle of the night, you creep!  Don't call me again unless.. unless you're dead!" she yelled.

            "You mean I can call you again?" asked Veemon, completely missing the point.

            "GET SOME SLEEP, YOU DIMWIT!!!" she yelled, slamming the receiver down.  Kari looked over at Gatomon from her bunk.

            "Gatomon, that wasn't very nice," she mumbled.

            "Well, I'm always cranky when I don't get enough sleep," she said, grouchily, "He should have known that."  Gatomon got back into bed with Kari.  Everyone sighed deeply, thankful for the silence.  All of them, but Gatomon, closed their eyes and fell asleep.  She just lay there, wide awake.

            "The nerve of that guy, you know?!" she barked out, waking everyone else up again, "I can't believe he thinks it's okay to just call us up in the middle of the night to ask me how I am like a moron.  What the heck is wrong with him anyway?  What sort of jerk would deliberately keep his friends awake while all they're trying to do is have some piece and qui-mph!"  Kari cupped her hands over Gatomon's mouth before she could finish.

            "Go to sleep," she said, glaring at Gatomon.  Gatomon shut up and Kari took her hand away.  All was quiet for a few brief moments when the phone wrung again.

            "I'll get it," said Gatomon, grouchily.  She climbed over Kari and went to the phone, 

"Yeah?" she said into it.

"WOoaaahhhhh Gatomon, I'm deeeaaadddd," moaned Veemon in a ghost-like voice.  Gatomon's face twitched angrily.

******Back at the Motomiya Residence******

            Veemon stared into the receiver.

            "Disconnected?" he thought, confused.

******At the Kamiya's******

            Gatomon walked out of the room, dusting her paws off on each other, the tattered remains of the phone lying crumpled and sputtering in the waste basket.

            She entered the TV area of the apartment and sat down on the couch.  Bored out of her mind, she turned on the TV and started watching some infomercials.  The one she was currently watching was for some sort of pillow that could fit the shape of anyone's head.  She looked over at one of the pillows on the couch with disdain.

            "Why can't he ever show me more than just friendship?" she thought, "Maybe he's just shy.  I guess that's why he never tells me he loves me.  Or maybe my dream mon just has his eyes on someone else.  Patamon....."  She looked back at the TV.  They were now talking about a vibrating, electric, earwax remover.  Gatomon sighed and turned the TV off.  She glanced over at the pillow.  Agumon was sitting on it and staring at her.

            "Waahh!!" she yelled, "When did you get here, Agumon?!"

            "Turn it back on!  I was watching that!" he demanded.

            "....How long have you been there?" she demanded back, incredibly embarrassed, as though he could read her thoughts.

            "Not very long," said Agumon, "What's wrong with you tonight?  You're really upset and it doesn't seem like it's all Veemon's fault."

            "So what are you now, my therapist?  Go bug someone else," she said, annoyed.

            "I might be able to help, ya know," Agumon insisted, "C'mon, tell me what's making you so mad."

            "Look, it's a girl thing, okay?  You wouldn't understand," said Gatomon.

            "Is it that time of the month already??" asked Agumon, backing off.

            "Veeeery funny," said Gatomon, "It involves complex relationships that you couldn't possibly grasp."

            "You're talking to the one mon who's seen more Soap Operas than any human alive," said Agumon, proudly, "If I can't figure out a solution to your problem, NO one can."

            "FINE," she said, exasperated.  Gatomon took a deep breath and relaxed for a second.

            "I'm in love with Patamon and I can't get Veemon to leave me alone and Patamon doesn't think of me as a girlfriend so I have to get rid of Veemon and find a way for Patamon to like me or at least find out WHY he doesn't LIKE like me instead of just simply liking me, get it?" she asked.

            "...Uh.. I think so," said Agumon, "You know, I saw a soap where the same thing happened to Barbara.  I know exactly what you should do."  She leaned in closer and he began whispering into her ear.

******The Next Night******

            Veemon and Davis were fast asleep in Davis's Room.  They were hugging each other, romantically.

            "Oh Gatomon, you feel so soft," moaned Veemon.

            "Kari, you're so good at this," moaned Davis back.  Their faces moved closer together, a kiss clearly eminent.

            "Oh Gato," said Veemon.

            "Oh Kari," said Davis.  The phone wrung.  Their eyes opened.

            "Oh JEEZ!!!" they both yelled, letting go of each other.  Veemon fell out of the bed and Davis leaped away, holding his chest.

            "What were you doing??!" yelled Davis.

            "I was having a dream about..  Wait, what were YOU doing??" retorted Veemon.  The phone wrung for a second time.

            "Never mind," said Davis, "Just get the phone."  Grumbling, Veemon picked up the phone.

            "Hello?" he asked, upset, "Gatomon!  Hiya!"

            "Veemon, listen up," she said, "I'm coming over to your place.  I'll be there in one hour.  Meet me up on the roof, got it?"

            "The roof, one hour, got it," said Veemon, "Tah Tah, my sweet!"

            "Ugh," she said, hanging up.  Veemon turned to Davis.

            "Davis!  Guess what??" he said.

            "You're meeting Gatomon up on the roof in an hour?" asked Davis, sarcastically.

            "Yeahhhhhh," he said, sighing and sliding onto the floor.

******At the Kamiya's******

            Gatomon hung the phone back up.  She turned to look at Agumon.

            "Are you sure this is gonna work?" she asked, skeptically.

            "Trust me!" he said, giving her the thumbs up sign, "This plan worked perfectly on the show."

            "But what if..?" she began.

            "Don't what if me," said Agumon, "On the show, Barbara pretended to have memory loss from a blow to the head.  Then she asked Johnny to go out with her so he'd think that she liked him.  Then she dumped him and got Craig to comfort her in her time of loss.  Johnny finally left her alone because he saw that even though they got off to a fresh start, she still went to Craig.  See?  It'll work out the same way with you and Veemon."

            "I sure hope you're right, because I'm not sure I understand this plan myself," said Gatomon, brushing her fur with her paw, "How do I look?"

            "Um.. What do you care?  You're not supposed to be trying to impress him," said Agumon.

            "Well I'd hate to go out for any reason no looking my best," she said, proudly tidying up herself.  Agumon rolled his eyes and walked back off to the bedroom.

******Fifty-five minutes later******

            Veemon was waiting for Gatomon up on the rooftop of Davis's apartment complex.  He was wearing a snazzy jacket and carried a cane in one hand and flowers in the other.  He looked at the watch he was wearing.  Pikachu's big hand was on the eleven.

            "Just five more minutes and she'll be here!" thought Veemon, "I can't believe she's finally gonna go out with me!  I wonder where we should go for our first date.  Maybe dancing!  No wait, I can't dance.  Maybe we could go get a bite to eat!  Wait, I don't have any money.  Hoo boy, I didn't plan this very well."

            "Pika!  Pika!  Pika!  Pika!" wrung his watch.

            "Jeez!  This is the last time I borrow a watch from Davis!" he said, smacking the Pokémon watch.

            "Piiiikkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaa," the watch sputtered as it died down.

            "Now I just have to wait for her to show up," he giggled to himself.

            "Ahem," came Gatomon's voice from behind him.

            "Yikes!" he said, spinning around, "Oh, hi toots!"  Without warning, Gatomon slapped him hard across the face.  The sudden blow knocked him off of his feet.  He looked up at her, his confidence lost and a look of fear replacing it.

            "W-what was that for?" he asked timidly.

            "THAT was for waking me up in the middle of the night, Veemon," she said sternly.

            "B-B-but," he started.

            "Don't 'B-B-but' me!" she retorted, "What's the matter with you?  Why are you all dressed up?!  Did you think this was some sort of date?"

            "Well.. I..," he stuttered.

            "Well guess what, you jerk, I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last mon alive.  Don't you get it?!  I'm in love with Patamon.  Understand?!" she yelled.  Veemon's lip began to tremble as he scooted away from her.  Gatomon walked past him and hopped up onto the edge of the roof.  Veemon couldn't tell, but Gatomon was peering down at the sidewalk below with a look of fear on her face.

            "Uh oh," she thought, "Maybe this is too high.  I'm a champion digimon, but still.....  Oh well, here goes nothing!"  She spun around to face him.

            "And if you ever bother me again, I'll make sure you never walk st..st.. woa woah woah!  WOAH!" she said, losing her balance.  Veemon gawked in horror as she fell backwards off of the roof.

            "Gatomon!!!" he yelled, racing over to the balcony.  He looked down but couldn't see her very well.  Being a reptile digimon, it looked like a sea of blackness to him.

            "Oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez," he said to himself as he ran down all the stairs of the building to the sidewalk where she would have fallen to.

            There she lay, belly up on the hard cement, doused in dirt and debris.  Veemon gasped to himself and ran to her side.  He knelt down by her side and put his ear on her chest.  Gatomon, not really unconscious, wanted to smack the crap out of him for trying to touch her breasts while she was out cold.  Fortunately she realized he was just checking for a heartbeat and stopped herself.  Not knowing anything about what to do in an emergency, Veemon slowly picked her up.  He went back to the apartment building and got onto the elevator with her still in his arms.  All the way up, he kept looking into her face for any signs of consciousness.  Gatomon did a good job of playing possum.

            "So far, the plan is working perfectly," she thought, "Still... I do kinda feel bad about doing this to him.  He's really concerned.  I'm just glad that tree was there for me to rebound off of, otherwise I probably wouldn't be conscious right know.  Well, I'll wake up soon enough.  Hee hee!"

They reached their floor and Veemon carried her off of the elevator.  He had left the door partially ajar so he pushed it open with his foot.  Gatomon was relieved to feel the change of temperature from the cold exterior to the warmer feel of the Motomiya residence.  Veemon shut the door behind them and laid her down on the couch.  He knelt down by her side, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm so so sorry, Gatomon," he sniffled, "This is all my fault.  If I hadn't annoyed you, you never would have come over here to yell at me and you wouldn't have fallen and gotten hurt.  I promise that if you come out of this okay, I'll never ever EVER bother you again.  Just please, *sniff* wake up."  On cue, Gatomon vibrated her eyelids slightly.  Veemon's eyes widened at the sight of her movement.

"Gatomon?" he asked quietly.  Her eyes slowly opened as though experimenting with their capabilities.

"W-w-what's going on?" she asked, timidly, "Where am I?  What happened?  Who are you?"  Veemon now looked just plain confused.

"Gatomon, are you feeling okay?" he asked, worried.

"Have we met?" she asked.

"Oh no!  You've lost your memory??" he asked.  
            "I dunno," she said, "DID I?  Who are you?  Are you my boyfriend?"

"Y-Your what?" said Veemon.

"Are you?  Are you my mon?" she asked, hope in her eyes.  Now Veemon may not have been a very dishonest digimon.... but he also wasn't an idiot.

"Yes," he said, surprising himself, "We've been going out for a week, er month."

"Wow.. I'm sorry, but I just can't remember any of this.  It's like I remember everything but you," she lied.

"So then you know about Patamon and Kari and Agumon and everyone?" he asked.

"Uh huh," she said, "But it's like I've never met you.  Why can't I remember who you are?"

"Well, maybe it's only partial memory loss," he speculated, "In any case, how do you feel?  You DID just fall off of a roof."

"Um.. my head sorta hurts," she replied.

"Oh right!  Wait here and try not to move," he said, racing off into the kitchen.  Gatomon stretched out and relaxed on the couch, cool, calm, and confident.

"Ahhh.  Everything's going according to plan.  And in just a few days, operation 'Get Veemon Off My Tail' will be complete," she foresaw.  Gatomon resumed her previous position quickly.  Veemon was back soon with an ice pack.  He handed it to her.

"Here, just put this where it hurts," he said.

"Thanks Veemon.  Or do I just call you Vee?" she asked, slyly tickling him under his chin with her tail, "Or is it Veedly-deedly?"

"Umm *gulp* you just call me Veemon," he said, feeling twice as guilty as before.

"You sure I can't at least call you Vee?" she asked, batting her eyelashes, "Pretty please?"

"Okay," he said, practically floating on air.  Gatomon put the ice pack on her head where it 'hurt' and laid back.  She closed her eyes and tried to get some rest.  Veemon took this as his cue to leave.  He rushed into Davis's room.  Gatomon opened an eye.  Once she was sure that he was gone she dumped the ice bag next to the couch.

Back in Davis's room, Davis was lying awake in his bed, reading a comic book.

"No!  Don't go in there, Captain Groovy!" he said, reading intently, "It's probably a trap set up by the evil Dr. Disco!"  Davis's eyes darted up and down the page.

"Davis, you've gotta help me!" Veemon said, coming back into the room.

"Captain Groovy??  Are you speaking to me???" he asked the comic book, putting his ear on the pages.  Veemon stared at him blankly.

"Yes Davis, It is I, Captain Groovy.  I need you to help me save the world," he said, deadpan.

"I knew it!" said Davis, getting excited.

"Davis!!" yelled Veemon.

"Huh?" said Davis, just noticing him, "Veemon, did you hear?  Captain Groovy wants me to help him save the world!"

"....You know, I came in here to ask for your advice, but I think I'll just skip it."

"No no no!  Try me!  I'm real good at giving advice," said Davis.

"..Well...... okay.  Davis, I did a really bad thing," said Veemon, "I got Gatomon hurt, she lost her memory, and then I lied to her about being her boyfriend.  Now she's lying on the couch with an icepack on her head, probably delirious, and thinking she's in love with me.  What should I do?"

"....Celebrate?" suggested Davis.

"CELEBRATE?!" yelled Veemon, "Why the heck should I be celebrating?!"

"Number one, she's delirious.  Number two, she's in love with you," said Davis, "You're chances for being her guy have skyrocketed!"

"But I don't want our relationship to be one big lie!" said Veemon.

"Ohhhh you want an honest, meaningful relationship?" asked Davis.

"Exactly," said Veemon.

"Sorry, bud, can't help ya," said Davis, "Hot, short-lived relationships are my specialty."

"Oh for crying out loud," Veemon asked, holding his face in his palm.

"Ok ok, so you're feeling guilty, huh?  Try reading something.  That'll help take your mind off of it for now," said Davis.

"Well, I could give that a try I guess," said Veemon, "On another note, could I have a blanket?"

"What for?" asked Davis, "You know Mom likes to keep the AC on at night.  It'll be like a meat locker in here."

"I know I know," said Veemon, "Just one, please??"

"I need all the blankets I can get, Veemon," insisted Davis.

"But it's an emergency!" Veemon insisted right back.

"There couldn't be any emergency worse than Mom's love of sub-zero temperatures," said Davis.

"Okay then, I'll speak in 'Davish' so you can understand," said Veemon, "Ahem.  Yo, dude!  You'll never guess what's happened, man!  Gatomon's gonna spend the night with me.  WINK WINK.  Know what I'm sayin'?  So could I cop a blanket?  I don't want my baby to get all frosty when we get our fires BURNING!  C'mon, help a fellah score here!"

"Woah!  Way to go, man!" said Davis, grabbing some blankets, "I knew there was some of me in ya; tell me all about it in the morning, okay?"

"You got it, bro!" said Veemon, walking out with blankets.

He closed Davis's door behind him.

"Wow, no wonder Davis has so much trouble getting a date," he thought, "Talk about a one track mind, sheesh!"  Veemon headed toward the living room.

Gatomon's teeth chattered like mad.  Her eyes peered upward to look at the air conditioning vent which was right above her.

"It's p-p-past midnight," she stuttered, "Why the heck d-d-do they have the air c-c-conditioner on?"  Even her tail fur was frizzed out as Gatomon curled herself up as tightly as she could.  Veemon, no longer donning his fancy duds, hopped onto the couch by her feet.

"Cold?" he asked.  Gatomon's ears wiggled when she heard his voice.  A muffled, 'Uh huh' was heard from inside her little furry cocoon.  Veemon scooted next to her, between the back of the couch and her back.  Gatomon felt something warm and scaly put its arm on her.  She slowly uncurled and saw Veemon's arm wrapped around her.  She looked back to see him staring at her.  He took his arm off of her and pulled the blanket over the two of them.  Once it was covering them, he slid his left arm underneath her neck and draped it up and over her right side.  His right came under her right arm and rested on her tummy.

"I don't believe the nerve of this guy!" she thought, "He lies to me and then tries to feel me up!  Grr!  When this is over, he's gonna GET it!"  Gatomon slowly stopped frowning.  Veemon was already fast asleep.  He was making noises that a fuzzy chipmunk would make.  Gatomon smiled at this, in spite of her feelings.  A few moments passed and she looked at the outline his arms made in the blanket.  He wasn't holding her tightly or roughly.  It was more like he was afraid that if he was too forceful, he'd break her.  Instead, he was touching her like she was a piece of fine china, something to be treated with care and respect.  Gatomon thought back to when she had been held that way before.  She suddenly realized that she couldn't at all.  Everyone treated her either like a fierce warrior to be feared or like a house pet to be taken care of.  Gatomon blinked a few times, surprised by her thoughts.

"You're doing this for Patamon.  PATAmon," she thought, reminding herself of her purpose.  In his sleep, Veemon hugged her gently and whispered 'Goodnight, Gatomon.'  She found herself whispering 'Goodnight, Vee' right back.

To be continued...


	2. Fickle-Minded

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 2:  Fickle-Minded

            Veemon woke up to find that Gatomon was actually still there.  She was purring contently, still asleep.  Veemon felt like he couldn't move for some reason.  He pulled the blanket off of them with his right hand and saw that she was cuddling his left one like a teddy bear.  Veemon stared at her body.  She was still covered with twigs and dirt from her fall the previous night.

"How weird that she'd have so many twigs in her fur from landing on a sidewalk...," he thought silently.  Veemon wiggled his arm until it was free.  He breathed a sigh of relief as he shook it around to get the blood flow back.

            "Veemon....." Gatomon sighed in her sleep, upset that she couldn't feel him anymore.

            "Did she just call out my name?" he thought, "Oh well, time to get cleaned up."  Veemon tapped her shoulder.  She slowly opened her eyes and looked at her hands.  She could see that his arm was no longer there.  Gatomon stared up at Veemon who had a big smile on his face.

            "....What?" she asked.

******A Few Seconds Later******

            "NONONONONONONONO!!!!" yelled Gatomon.  She was leaving a trail of claw marks in the carpet as Veemon dragged her toward the bathroom.

            "But Gatomon, Mrs. Kamiya will get mad at you if you go home all dirty and I'll get in trouble with Davis if I drag dirt all over the place," said Veemon, struggling, "We *erg!* need to *gr!* take a *mph!* bath!!"

            "No means NO!" she yelled back.  Veemon, gave up and let go of her legs.

            "Okay okay," he said, "We won't take a bath."

            "THANK you," she said, dusting herself off.

            "Huh??  Did you hear that?" he asked, turning gravely serious.

            "Hear what?" she asked.

            "That noise," he said, "It sounded like a low growl or something.  Wait here, I'll be right back."  With that, he ran into the bathroom.  Gatomon stared after him, confused.

            "Gatomon?" he called, "Remind me to thank you for not wanting to take a b-b-bath!  Wahhh!!!"

            "Veemon!" she yelled, running in.  Veemon wasn't there.  She looked around and soon spotted him behind the toilet.

            "What's wrong?" she asked.

            "O-Over there!" he said, pointing at the tub, "I looked down at the drain and I saw an eye staring right back at me!"

            "So, a monster in the tub, huh?" she asked.  Gatomon turned to the bathtub and grabbed the lever for the water.  "Let's see if he can swim!"  That said, she turned on the water, filling up the tub.  "Something's wrong, Veemon.  The tub is filling up but no water is going down the drain."  Veemon had come out from hiding behind the toilet and had closed the door.

            "Think it has something to do with that weird thing on the shelf up there?" asked Veemon, pointing to the shampoo bottles while walking back toward the tub.

            "What do shampoo bottles have anything to do with..?" she asked.

            "Waahh!!!  There it is again!!" he yelled, pointing frantically at the drain.

            "Where?  Where??"

            "Right there, I swear!  Take a look; you have better eyes than I do."  She looked down closer.

            "I don't see anything there, Veemon," she said.

            "Gotcha!" he shouted, grabbing Gatomon's legs.

            "What the..?!" was all she managed to get out before Veemon lifted her hind legs off the ground and dunked her in the tub.  When she surfaced, he was laughing his butt off.

            "And you didn't see this coming?" he snickered out.

            "...KILL.....YOU!!!" she said, tweaked out.  Veemon smiled brightly.

            "Grr!  Not unless I get you first!" he said, playfully.  With that, he tackled her back down into the tub and splashed in along with her.  As she surfaced, he closed the shower curtains.

            "There, now we have some privacy," he stated sitting back down with her.  Before she could yell any further, he took her head into his hand and began rubbing her through her fur.  Gatomon suddenly became like putty.  She had a thing for being scratched behind the ears and Veemon had instantly found the perfect spot.  She spun backwards and fell against him.  Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled them both to one side of the tub where the shampoo bottles were.  He opened one up and squirted the goo in her fur.  Gatomon purred contently as he rubbed it on her scalp.

            "See?  This isn't so bad, is it?" he said, plucking twigs out of her.  Gatomon purred contently in response.

            "I'm guessing that means it's not," he said, continuing to massage her scalp.  Veemon's hands slowly slid down the side of her face to her shoulders.  Gatomon sighed as he expertly rolled and squeezed them.  "You're pretty tense.  What's wrong?"

            "N-Nothing," she squeaked out, too content to say more.  Veemon's hands came to a slow stop.  He lowered them and wrapped his arms around her waist.  Gatomon's eyes opened up.  She tilted her head back to look at Veemon.  His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly.

            "I think he's enjoying this bath even more than I am," she speculated to herself, "..Did I just think I was enjoying this??  Oh jeez.  This plan is really failing miserably.  The whole point was so that he could make some big mistake, I'd dump him for it, he'd realize that even though we got off to a fresh start it wasn't working out, and then he'd leave me alone.  Instead I liked sleeping with him, being held by him, and even taking a bath because of him.  This shouldn't be what I want!  He's an annoying cretin!  Hmm.... okay, fine.  If he won't screw up on his own, I'll just have to MAKE him."  Gatomon smiled to herself and lifted her tail out of the water.  It still had some twigs in it so she let in flop back and drape across his shoulder.  This caused Veemon to open his eyes.  He looked over at her tail and saw the twigs.  Veemon plucked one of them out.  "YEOWWW!!!!!" she yelled, leaping out of the water, "My tail my tail my tail!!"  Veemon almost jumped out of his skin.

            "What?  What did I do??" he asked, concerned.

            "Mrrrgh!  My tail is the most delicate part of my whole body!" she said, holding her tail as though it hurt.

            "........You're a Saiyan?" he asked.

            "A what?" said Gatomon, forgetting that she was supposed to be in pain.

            "You know, from DragonBall Z," he said, "Their tails are their weakness."

            "Well, then yes," she said, "I guess so....  Oh!  OW!!!!"  Veemon cocked his eyes at her as she pretended to be in pain again.

            "Um Gatomon," he said, "Maybe it hurts because you're squeezing it like that."

            "..No....  It's YOUR fault!" she insisted, not very convincingly.

            "You know," said Veemon, getting a bit bolder, "I could have sworn I've seen you land on your tail before in some battles we've fought.  It didn't seem to bother you very much then."

            "That's..... That's because.... That's because you.. I mean I.. well..........  Well my tail doesn't hurt much now anyway.. so you're forgiven," she said, improvising poorly.  Veemon stared at her, deadpan.

            "Uh HUH.  Yeah, well, anyway, let's get dried off and I'll take you back to Kari's," he said, sounding like he might be catching on.

            "Okay," she said, smiling nervously.  Veemon climbed out of the tub onto the mat and helped her climb out.  He plucked a towel from the rail and wrapped it around Gatomon.

"This just isn't working out," she thought, "Now what do I do?  I can't just tell him I lied to him.  Then I'd just be back to stage one.  Even worse, he might think I'm doing this because I secretly like him!  .....  Which I don't!  I have to change the plan.  If it won't work with me dumping him, I'll just have to get him to dump ME.  When I think about it, that makes a lot more sense anyway."  Veemon hung the towel back up and turned to Gatomon.

"Well, I guess we should head off now," he suggested.

"Uh.. No..... That's ok.  I'll just go by myself," she said, still trying to find a good way to make him dislike her.  Veemon wrapped a towel around himself to finish drying off.  While he did this, Gatomon opened the bathroom door.  She glanced back at him and walked out.  Veemon noticed that she was gone and dropped the towel.

"Wait for me!" said he, running after her.

Gatomon opened up the front door and was just about to leave.  Veemon dashed over to her.

"At least let me walk you home!" he shouted.

"I said I'd go by myself!!" she yelled, slamming the door behind her.  A second slam soon followed as Veemon whacked face-first into the door.  Gatomon rolled her eyes and bounded off.

******At the Kamiya's******

            Kari was glaring at Agumon.  He had backed himself into a corner in the bedroom.

            "How could you tell Gatomon to do that?!" she yelled, "Don't you know how crushed Veemon is going to be by this stupid plan?!"

            "B-but that's the idea.  It'll be the final blow so he'll just give up on his own accord," whimpered Agumon.

            "I don't care!" said Kari, "When Gatomon comes back, she's going to have a LOT of explaining to do.  Where has she been, anyway?  I thought she was supposed to come right back after that incident."

            "I really don't know," said Agumon, "She should be back by now."

            "Oh great," said Kari, "Looks like I have to give Davis a call."  Just then, their front door opened and Gatomon walked through.  She rounded a corner and was greeted by an angry Kari.

            "AhEM," said Kari, obviously wanting an explanation.

            "Heh heh, I see Agumon spilled the beans," said Gatomon.

            "Explain.  Now," said Kari.

            "Well......," Gatomon began, quickly thinking up a good fabrication.

            "The truth, Gatomon," insisted Kari.

            "*sigh* The truth is that I wound up spending the night at Davis's," said Gatomon, walking into Kari and Tai's room.  Kari followed her and closed the door behind them.  Agumon had taken his chance to flee, so they were alone.

            "Are you going to tell me why you spent the night there?" asked Kari, still upset.

            "Well if I just walked away after falling off of a building he'd suspect something, duh," said Gatomon.

            "Don't get smug with me!" yelled Kari, "You're going right back over there to apologize to Veemon."

            "What?!  I can't do that!!" said Gatomon, freaked out.

            "Oh yes you ... Gatomon, why are you so clean?" she asked, just noticing.

            "I took a bath with Veemon," said Gatomon, mater-of-factly.

            "A bath??  I've never been able to get you to take a bath," said Kari, "So.. What's the deal?"

            "Well I DID get dirty from the fall," said Gatomon, "All I did was sleep with him and take a bath with him.  What's the big deal?"  Kari was speechless.  Her look of anger had been replaced with one of shock.

            "......You slept with him?"

            "Well, what else was I supposed to do?  I had to convince him that I thought he was my boyfriend."

            "Still, I mean, isn't that taking things just a tad far?"

            "What are you talking about?  It's not that big a deal."

            ".........How was it?" Kari asked, inquisitively.

            ".....Well.. uh.. not bad I guess," replied Gatomon, never really having given it much thought.

            "Was that your first time sleeping with a guy?" she asked.

            "Hmm....... yeah, I'm pretty sure that was," replied Gatomon.

            "........Did it hurt?" asked Kari.

            "Well, it WAS a bit uncomfortable at first, but I got to like it actually," said Gatomon.

            "Wow.  So Veemon was your first," said Kari, "So, are you gonna have a baby now?"

            ".....Wah???" said Gatomon, thoroughly confused.

            "Well, you DID have sex with him," said Kari.  
            "What?!  I DID NO SUCH THING!  I said we slept together!  SLEPT!  As in, we both lay down and fell asleep!" said Gatomon, angrily, "What type of girl do you think I am?!"

            "Sorry!  Sheesh!  Anyway, I'm just glad you're back home and everything's alright.  So, how did you get him to dump you?" asked Kari.

            "..Um.. well.. He hasn't actually dumped me yet, so to speak," said Gatomon.

            "Why not?  I thought that was what this whole plan was for."

            "I changed the plan so that I'm dumping him," said Gatomon, a bit upset.

"Well, then, why haven't you dumped him already?" asked Kari.

"I'm working on it, okay?!" Gatomon retorted, clearly miffed.

            "Don't blow a gasket, I was just wondering," said Kari, backing off.

            "Well um.. it'd look too strange to just dump him right off the bat.  I'll just wait a few days and then hit him with it," said Gatomon, walking out of the room, "Piece of cake."

******At the Motomiya Residence******

            Veemon appeared completely purple and his surroundings looked like they had all been shaded red.  Suddenly they all looked blue, now under a different hue.  Davis continued staring at Veemon's slumped form through one eye or the other from behind the pair of cheesy 3-D glasses he had found.

            "Hey, Veemon, are you okay?" he asked, bending down to his friend.  Yes, Veemon still had his face firmly implanted in the front door.  Davis lifted him up and shook him awake.

            "Who?  What?  Where?  When?  Why?" he asked, slowly snapping back to reality.

            "This isn't Nick News," said Davis, "Why'd you smack your face into the door?"

            "Ughhhh," groaned Veemon, rubbing his nose, "Devermide, ith's a log thtory, Davishth."

            "Between your lisp and your blocked nose it's like you're speaking another language," snickered Davis.  Veemon muttered to himself and let go of his nose.  Just noticing the glasses, he gave Davis a funny look.

            "What's with the specs?  Is that the guy version of makeup?" he asked.

            "What?!  These are 3-D glasses!  I use them for reading comic books, not to feel pretty."

            "Sure coulda fooled me, handsome!" said Veemon batting his eyes and smiling like a ditz.

            "Oh knock it off," said Davis, dropping Veemon back down to the floor, "I got them out to make your story seem more real!"

            "Huh?  What story?" said Veemon.

            "Oh good point, I don't want my mom to hear it," he said, taking Veemon's arm, "Quickly, Weed Boy!  To the bedroom!" he shouted, racing away with Veemon in tow.

            "Let's do it, Captain Groovy," said Veemon, deadpan.

            Davis dashed into the room and placed Veemon on the bed.  He closed the door and pulled up a chair.  He had next to him a big bowl o' popcorn and a cola in his hand.  He straightened the 3-D goggles and stared at Veemon, expectantly.  Veemon stared right back, not sure what he was supposed to do.

            ".....Well?" said Davis, growing impacient.

            "Well what??  What story am I supposed to be telling you?" he asked confused.

            "Don't you remember?  You said you'd tell me all about your wild night with Gatomon when I gave you the blanket last night," said Davis, giddy as ..... well, as Davis.

            "Ohhh right," said Veemon, "Well, it was real nice."  Davis stayed quiet for a while.

            "........AND??" he asked, growing impatient.

            "And what?" asked Veemon.

            "Don't be so shy, Veemon," said Davis, "Get to the juicy stuff!"

            "Errrr," said Veemon, not really sure what to say, "We didn't exactly do anything really."

            "..What?" said Davis, shocked, "You had a girl who was madly in love with you on the couch, under a blanket, and NOTHING happened??"

            "Uh.. heh, yeah, that's about it."

            "Oh man.  What'll I tell all the guys?" he said, depressingly taking off his glasses, "I can't believe I've got such a weenie for a digimon."

            "All the guys??!" Veemon thought, panicking, "I'd be a laughing stock!"  He gulped silently.  "Davis?  I kinda lied.  It was a WILD night!"

            "Really???" said Davis, perking up, "Way to go!  So, tell me all about it!"

            "Ok, but you have to do one thing for me."

            "Name it."

            "Don't tell any of this to a SOUL!"

            "It's a deal!" said Davis, cramming some popcorn into his mouth.

******Later that Night at the Kamiya's******

            Tai climbed into bed and reached for the light.

"Goodnight, guys," he yawned.

"Goodnight!" Agumon, Gatomon, and Kari responded.

Before he could click it off, the new phone they had installed wrung.

            "That should be for you, Gatomon," said Agumon, lying eyes-closed up on Tai's bed.  Tai gave Agumon a quizzical look.

            "Hello?" he asked, picking up the phone, "Uh huh...... Ok, sure.  Gatomon, it IS for you.  How'd you do that, Agumon?"

            "Gatomon," said Agumon, "Tell Veemon yes, okay?"  Now it was Gatomon's turn to look at him quizzically.  She climbed out of the bed and took the phone from Tai, still looking back at Agumon.

            "Yes?  Oh, hi Vee," she said, sounding happy, "Really?  Bowling?  Yeah sure.  Oh, I'll ask.  Kari?"

            "Yeah?" asked Kari.

            "Can you take me to go bowling with Davis and Veemon?" she asked.

            "Okay," yawned Kari.

            "She said, okay," said Gatomon, her tail dancing in the air, "Mhmm, see you there!  Bye bye!"  Gatomon hung up the phone and skipped toward the bed.

            "You sure do throw yourself into a role," said Kari, rolling her eyes.

            "Agumon," said Gatomon, deliberately ignoring Kari's remark, "How'd you know that would happen?"

            "Easy," said Agumon, "He figured that since I live with you, I'd know the best place to take you out on a date.  I recommended bowling so you can see him stink up the lanes and you can dump him because you think he's no good.  See?  Problem solved."

            "..But what if he's good?" she asked, almost defending Veemon.

            "He doesn't even know what bowling is," snickered Agumon, "Don't worry, Veemon messing up is like Tai getting strangled by his hair:  It's bound to happen sooner or later!"

            "Very funny!" said Tai, playfully smacking Agumon with a pillow.  Agumon retaliated by pillow-smacking Tai back.  They both continued to pillow fight as Gatomon got back in the bed.  Kari rolled her eyes, part from how stupid the plan seemed and part from how dumb Tai and Agumon were acting.

            "C'mon, Tai," she groaned, "Turn out the light so we can get some rest."

            "Awwww," complained Agumon as Tai turned the light off.

            It was five minutes later.  Tai and Agumon had finally gotten settled down and Kari and Gatomon were down on the bottom bunk resting peacefully.  Kari was snoozing lightly, but Gatomon was still wide awake.  She was lying on her left side with her back facing Kari.  She couldn't decide whether to sleep under the covers or on top of them, finding it too hot underneath and too cold atop.  She had finally chosen to sleep on them so she could get up quickly.  This made her stop to think, "Why would I suddenly need to get up quickly?"  "To answer the phone," kept flashing in her head, but she ignored it.  Gatomon let her mind go blank for a few moments.  She found her eyes slowly panning down her body.  After a while, she became transfixed on her stomach.  That was where it felt the coldest.  She remembered that Veemon had put his hand right in that same spot last night.  She lay still for a few more moments before moving one of her paws down to her stomach, resting it right where his hand would have been.  Gatomon frowned.  It didn't feel the same.  She turned her head to glance back at Kari.  Kari's arm was resting on top of the covers too.  Inspired, Gatomon gently placed Kari's hand on her stomach, perfectly simulating Veemon's.  She closed her eyes to consider how it felt.

            "Hah, EXACTLY like his," she thought to herself, "He's nothing special, I just liked the way his hand felt.  Big whoop."

            "What's wrong, Gatomon?" Kari asked, somewhat awake.

            "Oh.. I was just a bit cold," lied Gatomon.

            "Ok here, big hug," said Kari, squeezing Gatomon like a stuffed animal, "Goodnight."

            Kari promptly fell back asleep.  Gatomon frowned, looking down at Kari's hand.  It was as though that hug made her notice all the differences.  Suddenly, Kari's hand seemed too smooth, it was a little too big, it felt girlish (duh), it seemed too limp, etc.  She gently plucked Kari's hand off of her body and placed it back on the covers behind her.  Gatomon felt very cold once again.

To be continued...


	3. Playing Perfectly

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 3:  Playing Perfectly

            It was 6:00PM and Veemon was helping Mrs. Motomiya with the groceries.  

She put her bag up on the table and Veemon pushed his up against it on the floor.

"I'm very sorry, Veemon, I just don't know anything about bowling," she insisted, "But thank you for helping me with the groceries."

"*Sigh* No problem," he said, trudging off to Davis's room.

            "Davis, I thought you said your mom was a bowling pro in High School!" he complained, entering.

            "Well, hi to you too," said Davis, 'working' at his computer, "And anyway, don't blame me.  I almost never listen to a thing she says.  Maybe she was good at soccer like me."

            "Davis!  This isn't helping!!  Agumon said bowling was Gatomon's favorite sport so now I have to get real good, REAL FAST!  Don't you have anything to say that could help me?"

            "Hm...... Yeah.  Don't drop the ball on your toes, it hurts like heck," he said, continuing to stare at the screen.

            "There's a ball in this sport?" asked Veemon.

            "Huh boy," said Davis, finally taking his eyes away from his computer, "Okay, little guy, I tell you what, I'll teach you everything I know about bowling if YOU do a favor for ME."

            "I'd do ANYthing!" exclaimed Veemon, actually anxious to have help from Davis.

            "Set up a date for me and Kari, and you've got yourself a deal," said Davis.

            "Wha??  That's!  That's impossible!!" said Veemon.

            "No it's not!  Just do for me whatever you did to get Gatomon interested in you," said Davis.

            "...... You want me to get Kari to fall off a building and land on her head?" asked Veemon, sarcastically.

            "Would that really work??" asked Davis, taking him seriously.

            ".. Just teach me how to bowl," said Veemon, his face in his hands.

            "Okay," said Davis, "But you'll have to tell me more about the Kari/rooftop plan."

******A few minutes later******

            Mrs. Kamiya had gone back down to the car so the kitchen was empty.  Davis poked his head out of his room, looked left, and then right.  He zipped into the kitchen and grabbed a cantaloupe.  He then tiptoed into Jun's room.

            She was taking an afternoon beauty rest with one of those guacamole dip face masks and cucumber slices on.  Davis looked at her and held off trying to barf.  He took a few deep breaths, regained his composure and grabbed ten of her Barbie dolls.  He took one more look at her and grinned evilly.

******A little later******

            Davis came back into his room with the dolls and the cantaloupe.  He still had the same wicked grin on his face.  Veemon cocked an eye at him.

            "Davis, what took so long?" he asked, carefully.

            "Hee hee, just getting a few things," said Davis, setting the dolls up like bowling pins, "Now then, are you ready Veemon?"

            "You bet!" he said, no longer caring about whatever mischief Davis had done.

            "Okay, allow me to explain," said Davis, pointing at the pins, "Bowling is a pretty simple game.  Now, do you see this pin in the middle and at the front?  Well that's the high pin.. or the number one pin.. or the kingpin.. well, whatever.  The goal is to knock down that pin and get it to smack the others down.  The more you knock down, the better your score.  Got it?"

            "This is gonna be a snap!" said Veemon, "So all I have to do is smack down a bunch of dolls and I win?"

            "Well sorta," said Davis, holding the cantaloupe, "The thing is, you've gotta hit 'em down with this.  A bowling ball actually has three holes in it that you use to hang onto it."

            "Okay, what do I do for now, then?" asked Veemon.

            "Stand perfectly still and close your eyes," said Davis, slowly approaching Veemon.  Veemon did as he was told.  Davis brought the cantaloupe above his head and smashed it down onto Veemon's horn-like nose.

            "Yeow!!!" yelled Veemon, "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT F-!"  Before he could finish, Davis punched another hole in it on Veemon's nose again.

            "You rotten stinking son of a -!" snarled Veemon as Davis punched the third hole.

            "There, nice and hole-y," said Davis, proudly.

            "That HURT!" said Veemon, rubbing his nose.

            "Well, it would have been easier if you hadn't moved so much," Davis lied.  He gave the cantaloupe to the angry Veemon. "Now put your middle finger, ring finger, and thumb into those holes."  Veemon grumbled and did as he was told, making a face as he felt his fingers sink into the sticky center of the fruit.  "Good.  Now roll the ball underhanded into those dolls," said Davis.

            Veemon was about to do so when Jun burst in, knocking her dolls over.

            "Alright!  Which one of you switched my face lotion with super glue??!" she yelled, her hands stuck to her face from trying to wash the guacamole paste off.  Davis fell over, laughing at her.

            "Aaaahahahahaha!!  What're you gonna do?  Elbow me to death?  Hahahaha!" he chocked out, cracking up.  Jun could only growl to herself, wishing she could throttle him.

            "And what part did YOU, play in this little game, Veemon?" she sneered.

            "Who me?  I didn't do anything!" he shouted defensively.  It was at this particular moment she noticed he was holding a cantaloupe like a bowling ball and that her dolls were scattered on the floor.  Veemon got nervous suddenly.

            "Oh.. heh heh heh.... oops?" he said, quietly.  Jun, seething with rage, contained herself, gathered her dolls with her elbows, and grumbled out the door.  Veemon frowned.

            "Well, so much for practice," he said, dejected.

            "Heh, if you think she's mad, wait 'till mom finds out about her fruit.  Oh man!" said Davis, looking at his watch, "We've gotta get going or we'll be late!  Let's go!"

******In the Kamiya's Car******

            Mrs. Kamiya was driving somewhat quickly to get Kari there on time.  Gatomon sat in Kari's lap, proudly holding a bowl.

            "I think my bowl will win for sure!" said Gatomon.

            "How many times do I have to tell you?  There are no bowls in bowling, silly," giggled Kari.

            "We'll see, we'll see," said Gatomon.

"She's right, you know," said T.K. from the back seat.

"I'm taking it just in case," she said, defiantly.

"Thanks for coming with us, T.K.," said Kari, "I really don't want to have to deal with Davis by myself."

"My pleasure," said T.K., blushing.  Gatomon stared out the window down at the moving road.

"Wow, my first real date!" she thought, "..... Well, my first outing with a mon who I'm not interested in anyway."  Her thoughts drifted off as the car pulled into the parking lot next to the Motomiya's sedan.

            They all got out and headed into the bowling alley, Gatomon wearing her bowl as a helmet.  A few people stared but, like most of Japan, they barely seemed to make much of a fuss.

            In the bowling alley, Veemon was practicing with a kiddy ball.  Davis was constantly straightening his goggles using the reflection in his ball.

            "Man, no matter which way I turn them, they always seem crooked," he complained.  Veemon rolled his eyes.

            "It's a sphere, Davis," said Veemon, rolling the ball down the lane.

            "Oh yeah," Davis mumbled to himself.

            "Hi guys!" called Kari as they headed toward Davis and Veemon.

            "Hi Kar-..  What's HE doing here??" he grumbled.

            "I'm just here to keep Kari company," said T.K.

            "I could do that just fine, T.J.," said Davis, shoving his face into T.K.'s.

            "C'mon, guys let's just bowl," said Kari, dragging Davis away by his ear, 'Pokémon Misty' style.  T.K. snickered and followed them to the lane.

            Gatomon turned her head when she saw Veemon holding his ball ready to knock down the pins.  On his head he was wearing a metal bowl he took from home.  She tried not to laugh out loud at the comical sight since the ball was clearly too heavy for him.  He stumbled back and forth trying to keep his balance and see even though the bowl was covering his eyes.  With a "RackinflackinpeckleRRRGGGGGHHHH!!" he chucked the ball onto the lane.  He quickly pulled the bowl away from his eyes and hit a perfect strike.  Gatomon's repressed smile turned to a look of fear.

            "Uh oh," she thought, "It looks like Veemon's not as bad as Agumon said he'd be.  Kari DID say the object was to knock all the white things down."  That having been thought, though, she relaxed again as Veemon dizzily stumbled towards the bench, tried to sit down, missed the bench, and fell flat on his butt.  "Then again, kudos Agumon.  This should be a snap!"  She tiptoed up to Veemon as Kari stopped to have a quick chat with T.K. and Davis.

            "Oh, I almost forgot, guys," she said, letting go of Davis's ear, "If anyone asks, our digimon are the latest robotic toys that we're testing for a friend's father who's.. oh I don't know, some famous toy inventor.  Got it?"

            "Sure thing, Kari," they both answered at once.  Davis began growling at T.K.

            "Stop stealing my lines!"

            "Lines?  What do you think this is, a TV show?"  Davis pulled down his right lower eye lid and stuck his tongue out at T.K.

            "Right back at you!" said T.K. doing the same thing to Davis.

            "That's enough!" said Kari, grabbing them both by their ears, "I want you two to play nice, understand?"

            "Yes Ma'am," they both responded, obediently.

            "Much better," she said, happily dragging them to the booth.

            Veemon had already gotten back to his feet and was once again holding a ball, this one being the kiddy ball he had used before.

            "Okay, Veemon old boy," he thought to himself, "Kari's obviously here since she's off yelling at Davis and T.K.  Now it stands to reason that Gatomon's probably with them.  Since she most likely isn't interested in listening to Kari lecture, I'll bet she's looking at you right now!  This is her favorite sport, remember, so bowl really, really, REALLY we-!"

            "Hiya Vee," said Gatomon from right behind him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

            "Waa!!" he yelped, chucking the ball up into the air while simultaneously knocking the bowl off of his head and sending it flying behind him.  Gatomon looked a bit shocked as his ball hit the lane somewhat hard, rolled forward, and smashed the pins over, giving him another strike.  Davis, hearing Veemon's yell, turned around only to have his face walloped by the airborne bowl.

            "Vee..mon!" he growled as the bowl slid down his face.

            "There goes my lucky bowl," said Veemon.

******Later******

            Gatomon was up getting ready to knock 'em down.  She was clearly having trouble holding onto the ball since she only had paws.  Meanwhile, in the booth, Kari was sitting between Davis and T.K., so they were being nice and quiet.  Davis still had a grouchy look on his face from getting smacked by the bowl but at least it wasn't all red anymore.  Suddenly, his spirits seemed to perk up as he remembered something.  He yawned and snaked his arm innocently over Kari's shoulder but tapped T.K.'s instead.  T.K. looked over at him with a 'that's such a corny move' look.  Davis was staring straight at T.K. though, and nudged his head indicating that they both leave for a little bit.

            "Well, I gotta go to the bathroom, coming T.K.?" he said.

            "Oh that's okay, I don't have to go," said T.K., not getting it.

            "Uh.. please?  There are..um.. some nasty looking guys over there and my mom always has me take a buddy," he said, feeling incredibly stupid.  Kari tried not to snicker.

            "Oh, well when you put it that way," said T.K., satisfied with Davis's embarrassed expression, "Let's go."  Davis clenched his teeth together and got out of his seat.  Both of the boys headed off to the bathroom while Kari stayed to watch Gatomon bowl.  She struggled to balance the ball on her paw but was quite unsuccessful.  She finally flung it onto the court but it just went straight into the gutter and rolled all the way to the end.

            "Nuts," she thought, "Veemon thinks this is my favorite game.  What'll I do now that he's watching me screw up so completely?  Wait.  That's it!"  Gatomon turned around to Veemon and motioned him towards her.  He snapped to attention and zipped over to her.

            "Yes?" he said, always ready to please.

            "To tell you the truth, I've never played this game before.  I'm really just a spectator.  Can you help me with my form?"

            "Oh.. uh.. okay," said Veemon.  He nervously put his arms around her and put his hands over her paws.  "Since you have paws, put your left one right here so you can balance it."  She held the ball with both hands and let him pull them back.  "Kay, when I say so, let go."  They both swung forward.  "Now!"  She let go of the ball and it rolled down the lane.  Neither of them moved as it headed for the pins.  Kari smirked at the digimon couple.  Gatomon's tail twitched back and forth in the air.  The ball smacked the head pin and knocked them all down.

            "Nice shot Gatomon," said Kari.  Gatomon didn't hear her, though.  She was lost in thought.

            "Nuts, I did my best to screw up that shot and he still got it right.  I can't believe I'm having this much trouble getting Veemon to mess up.  VEEmon, the clutziest of all the boy digidestined and nothing's working!"

            "You can let go of her now, Veemon," said Kari, rolling her eyes.

            "Huh?" he said, looking down, "Oh!  Sorry."  Veemon backed away from her and sat back down.  She sat down next to him and put her bowl back on top of her head.

"Gatomon, there's really no reason to wear that thing," said Kari.  Gatomon clutched her bowl and shook her head.  Kari rolled her eyes, stood up, and got herself ready to bowl.

******Meanwhile******

            In the boy's bathroom, Davis and T.K. were standing by the urinals.

            "Okay, what did you want to talk about?" asked T.K.

            "Pay up," said Davis, smiling.

            "Huh?"

            "Did you think I'd forget?  Don't you remember that bet we made?"

            "No, what bet?"

            "You and I were fighting and you said, and I quote, 'Stop trying to win Kari over, Davis.  If she dates any of the digidestined, it'd be me.  Not only that, but Gatomon would probably only date Patamon.  You and Veemon don't stand a chance so just back off!'  And then I said, 'Well I bet you 2500 yen (a little less than $21) you're wrong!'  And you said, 'It's a bet then!'"

            "What's your point?  You're still not dating Kari."

            "No, I bet you 2500 yen that you were wrong about you getting Kari and Patamon getting Gatomon.  And since Veemon's going out with Gatomon, that makes me right, so pay up!"

            "Davis, look, I was really only kidding when I made that bet.  Let's just forget the whole thing, okay?"

            "OH no, you're not getting out of it THAT easily.  Pay up."

            "How do I even know you're not lying??"

            "Because Veemon told me all about the wild night he and Gatomon had yesterday!"

            "Give me a break!" said T.K.

            "Yuh huh!  I even remember it word for word!"

            "Oh, really?  Well don't let me stop you.  Go ahead, smart guy, tell me all about it."

            "..Uh.. Okay," said Davis, not expecting T.K. to call his bluff.  "Darn that Veemon, his description was so bland.  Something about her being warm and soft I think.....  Rats, well, I'll have to just spice things up," he thought.

******Later******

            T.K. had a shocked expression on his face.

            "So then they licked each other clean and fell asleep," said Davis, wrapping it up, "The End."

            "Woah..... I had no idea she'd take this that far," commented T.K.

            "Take what that far?"

            "Oh, uh, nothing."

            "What are you trying to hide, T.S.?" asked Davis, getting more curious.

            "Nothing.  Look, I'm trying my best not to say something I'll regret."

"What would you regret??  C'mon, tell me!"

"Just stop asking before someone gets hurt, okay?"

            "Is that a threat?!"

            "What??  No!  I meant emotionally."

            "Why would you not telling me something hurt me emotionally??"

            "I'm not talking about YOU.  I'm talking about Veemon!"

            "......What does this have to do with Veemon?" asked Davis, his tone changing.

            ".......Well........ I overheard them talking in the car......"

******Later******

            The boys had come back from the bathroom.  T.K. looked guilty and Davis had an uncomfortable look on his face.

            "That sure took a while," said Kari, "I've had to bowl for the both of you this whole time.  Anyway, it's you're turn up T.K."  T.K. didn't say anything as he picked up the bowling ball.  Davis actually stayed quiet too.  He glanced over at Veemon, who seemed to be in a dazed bliss as Gatomon's tail unconsciously tickled his chin.

            "Man, what am I gonna tell Veemon?  I don't want to see him get hurt like that.  I know he's tough, but that's just such a cruel thing to do, leading him on like that!  But what if T.K. was just lying so he wouldn't have to pay me anything?  I guess that's a possibility.  Maybe I should try to expose her or something.  Of course, I'm not very good at spying on people.  What am I gonna do?"

            "Davis," said T.K., "You're up."

            "Huh?  Oh, right."  Davis pulled back the ball and bowled nothing but gutters all through the game.

            After many hours of playing, Kari tallied up the score.  T.K. had won the game, she was in second, Veemon was in third, Gatomon was fourth, and Davis was dead last.

            "What happened, Davis?  You're usually so good at sports," commented Veemon.

            "I'm just a little distracted," he said, gravely.  Veemon didn't really seem to hear him, though, noticing a photo booth near the exit.

            "Hey Davis, can I get my picture taken?" he asked.

            "Knock yourself out," said Davis, forking over some cash.

            "Thanks!" said Veemon, snatching the money, "Um, wanna have your picture taken with me, Gatomon?"

            "Okay," she said, following along.  After they had left to get their photo taken, Davis turned to Kari.

            "Hey, Kari, I have a question for you," he said, unsure of how to put it.

            "Why what is it?" she asked.

            "When we were in the bathroom, T.K. told me about what Gatomon's doing with Veemon.  Is it true?"  Kari looked down shamefully.

            "Yes.  I tried to tell her how mean it was, but she's too committed to her plan."

            "What do you think I should do?  Should I tell Veemon?"

            "To tell you the truth, I don't think he's going to be very hurt," said Kari.

            "How can you be sure?" asked T.K.

            "Well, she's committed to the plan alright, but she can't seem to get it straight.  At first she was supposed to dump him, then she changed it to him being supposed to dump her, and now I think it's flipped around again," explained Kari, "See, Gatomon has a tough time telling people about her feelings.  You've gotta realize that she spent most of her life before she met us serving an evil digimon.  My guess is that showing or talking about feelings wasn't exactly encouraged.  I have a feeling that she secretly likes Veemon but just can't admit it to herself, let alone other people."

            "You should probably be a therapist instead of a Kindergarten teacher, Kari," said T.K.

            "Say!" said Davis, perking up, "You and Gatomon are pretty similar Kari, I guess that means you secretly like ME!"  Kari and T.K. stared at him, deadpan.

            ".......Maybe I should just get Veemon and Gatomon so we can go home," he suggested.  T.K. and Kari nodded their heads in approval and watched Davis slink away.

            "Say, is it just me, or was Davis actually displaying some human emotion?" asked T.K.

            "Trust me, it was you," she smirked.  Davis came back with Veemon and Gatomon and their pictures.

            "Look at these!  I got this one blown up!" said Veemon, showing them to Kari.

            "No don't show her that one!" said Gatomon, embarrassed.  Kari looked at the pictures.  They were of Gatomon and Veemon making funny faces.  Kari let out a little giggle and Gatomon covered her face up.  The fourth one was the one Veemon had gotten blown up.  It was of them with their arms around each other showing the victory sign to the camera.

            "These are really great guys," said Kari, handing them back, "You know, I've got a frame that should fit this one.  Why don't you sleep over at my house for tonight, Veemon?"

            "Could I, Davis?" asked Veemon, hopefully.

            "Mmmm.. well, I guess if Kari says it's okay...." said Davis, unsure. 

            "Great!" said Veemon, happily.  They all walked out toward their cars where their mothers were waiting for them.  Davis got in his car with his Mom and they left after a few goodbyes.  The rest of the group piled into the Kamiya's car and took off.

            "So, what did you do while we bowled?" asked Kari to her mom.

            "Mrs. Motomiya and I saw that three hour long romance movie they're advertising on TV.  OH it was so sad!" she sniffled, tearing up. "The hero dies of heart failure just before the fated kiss."

            "Uh.. sounds like a lot of fun," said Kari, skeptically.

            "It was more fun than it sounds, dear.  So, do you have a new digimon there, honey?"

            "Hm?  Oh no, this is Veemon.  He's just sleeping over for tonight."

            "We had our picture taken, see?" said Veemon, showing Mrs. Kamiya the picture of him and Gatomon they were going to frame.

            "Ohhhh," said Mrs. Kamiya, understandingly, "So, is T.K. going to be 'sleeping over' too?"  Kari blushed a deep crimson.

            "Mom.....," she mumbled shyly, "We're dropping him off, okay?"

            "I was just kidding around with you, honey."  She handed the picture back to Veemon as the car continued to drive off.

******Later******

            After dropping T.K. off at his place, it was about ten at night.  Mrs. Kamiya opened the door and turned on the light.  Veemon didn't really know what to do.  He'd never been over at Gatomon/Kari's house before.

            "C'mon in, Vee," said Gatomon, taking his hand.  She pulled him in and led him to Kari and Tai's room.  Kari had left her things lying all over the room, but that was nothing compared to the mess Tai had.  He refused to clean it up on account that it would only get dirty again.  Veemon stepped over a pair of shorts on the ground.  Gatomon hopped up on Kari's bed.  She motioned him up to join her.  He shuffled his feet and hesitantly climbed up on the bed.

            "Hey, I've got an idea," she whispered, "Kari might get mad if we get caught, but it could be fun!"  Veemon's eyes bugged open.

            "Uh!  Are you sure??" he asked.

            "Oh yeah," she said, winking, "I'm positive.  Give me a little bit of time, okay?"

            "Y-y-yeah, take all the time you need," he said, nervously.  Gatomon raced out of the room.  "Huhboyhuhboyhuhboyhuhboy," he chattered, shaking from head to toe with fear, "I didn't think things would get so intense on a first date!  What do I do??  I've n-n-never d-d-done this before!  Maybe if I just close my eyes it'll be over with real fast and I won't have to worry!  Yeah! ......  Who am I kidding???  I've gotta get out of here before I look like a complete idiot!!"  Just then, Gatomon came back.  She was carrying a bunch of stuff in her paws and climbed up onto the bed with him.  She put everything down on the pillow and got on all fours with her rear facing Veemon.

            "...Well?  What are you waiting for?  Hop on," she ordered.

******A little later******

"Erg.. Mmph.  Oh Veemon, this isn't working," complained Gatomon in discomfort, "Let me be on top; you're too heavy."

"How can I do this AND be on the bottom at the same time?" he retorted.

"It's easy, you just switch places with me and I'll do all the work."

"Oh c'mon, I'm almost finished.  Huh!  Huh!  Huh!" he grunted.

"Yeah, and you're almost breaking my back too."

"Oh.. alright," he said.  Veemon climbed off of Gatomon and they switched positions.

"There we go," she said, happily, "Much better."

"If you say so," said Veemon.

"Huh!  Huh!  Huh!" Gatomon grunted in effort.

"I don't think it can go in any deeper, Gatomon," remarked Veemon in some slight discomfort.

"You're not exactly any more experienced with this than I am," she giggled.

"Heh, good point there," he agreed.  It was at that moment that Kari walked into the room.

"Hey guys, have you seen.. OH MY GOD!!  WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TWO DOING???!!!" she yelled out.

"I think it's pretty obvious," remarked Gatomon.

"Oh man.  Why on MY bed though??" she asked, upset, "Why couldn't you have done this on Tai's?!"

"Cause yours is the perfect place," said Gatomon, "Where else would we hang our picture up?"  Veemon was on all fours, facing Kari.  Standing on his back was Gatomon.  In her right paw, she held a hammer and was in the process of putting a nail into the wall.

"Okay, but why three feet above the mattress??" she asked, still shocked.

"Because we couldn't find a step-ladder," remarked Veemon.  Kari facepalmed and walked out of the room, muttering to herself.  "You were right, she sure is upset."

"Oh, don't worry, she'll get used to it," said Gatomon, hopping off of his back.  Veemon stood up and faced her.

"Gatomon?  Thanks for going out with me," said Veemon, quietly.

"I had fun, thanks for a great evening," she said, happily.  Neither one of them said anything for a few seconds.  Veemon stared at her eyes.  They seemed to glow back at him.  Her look transformed from one of happiness to one of surprise as she saw his face moving towards hers.  She could feel his lips inches away from hers, a kiss imminent.  Suddenly, he kissed her, lightly.  Veemon could feel that there was something not quite right about this kiss, though.  Her lips felt somewhat leathery.  He opened his eyes and saw that he was kissing the palm of her front paw which she had jutted between their faces.

"..What..What's wrong?" he asked.

"I..I.. I uh.. uhhh HEY!  I .. I NEVER said you could kiss me!.. Jerk!... yeah.. um.. I never want to see you again!  EVER!" said she, pushing him away suddenly, "Now.. now go away!!  I don't love you!  I never could ever love a jerk like you!!!  BEAT IT!"  Veemon backed away and fell off the bed.  He looked up at her, frowned and slowly slunk out of the room.  Gatomon fell back down on the bed and turned her head away from the doorway he left through.  Curiously he left without any shock displayed upon his face.  He was only depressed.

To be continued…


	4. To Pata or not to Pata

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 4:  To Pata or not to Pata

            Davis walked towards his room, his mouth crammed with potato chips, his arms over-flowing with other junk food, and a soda hat with twin straws placed upon his head to make becoming a TV vegetable all the more easy.  He stopped at the door and didn't move for a second.

            "Uh oh.  How do I get in??" he mumbled through the chips in his mouth.  There was some music coming from the room, so Davis figured Veemon was in.

            "Veebon!  Ay!  Veebon, open uh!" he said, sending pieces of chips flying everywhere.  The knob turned slowly and the door opened partially.  Davis looked a bit confused but pushed the door open with his feet as he came in.  "In The End" by Lincoln Park was playing from his computer and Veemon was sitting on the desk wearing a bunch of black lipstick as eyeliner.  Davis slowly put his junk food on his bed and turned to look at Veemon.  Veemon had rolled up a piece of chewing gum wrapping and was pretending to be smoking it like weed.

            "......Hey," was all he said.

            "Uh, Veemon?  What's up with the new look?"

            "This is the look of a mon without love," he said taking another 'smoke' from the wrapper.  Davis bit his lower lip to prevent himself from smiling.

            "Uh.. Well, you're certainly the first Goth digimon I've ever seen.  That IS what you're going for, right?"

            "You got it," he said, puffing on the wrapper again.  This time, he sucked a bit too hard and pulled the wrapper out of his hand and into his mouth.

            "Gah!!!!" he chocked out, losing his entire goth-like persona in an instant, "Can't breathe!"

            "Oh man!  How did that Heimlich maneuver thing go?" thought Davis, panicking, "Oh that's right!"  Thinking quickly, Davis grabbed Veemon and spun him around so that he was facing him.  He then proceeded to kick Veemon right in the stomach.  This sent Veemon flying into the wall.  Fortunately, though, the blow to his back from the wall sent the wrapper flying out of his mouth.

            "Wow, I'm good!" said Davis.

            "Thank... you..... gihhhhh," groaned Veemon, sliding down the wall.  Davis sighed and picked up Veemon.  He brought him over to the bed and sat the digimon down.

            "You mind telling me what all this is about?" he asked.

            "Life is meaningless anyway, we'll just all wind up deleted in the end, man," said Veemon trying to regain the cool aloofness he never actually had.  Davis rolled his eyes and shut off the mp3.

            "Hey!  I was listening to that!" he complained.

            "Is this about Gatomon, dude?" said Davis, bluntly.

            "..No.."

            "Let me guess, she dumped you?"

            "How'd you know??"

            "Lucky guess.  That and the fact that it's the only thing there is that'll make YOU feel down."

            "You have a point there," Veemon sighed.

            "Look, Veemon, I didn't want to tell you this earlier just in case things worked out, but Gatomon was playing you."

            "..."

            "She just pretended to be in love with you like on a soap opera.  This whole thing was just one big lie, okay?  Now you need to get back on your feet instead of feeling sorry for yourself."

            "Davis, how would you feel if you knew for sure that Kari could absolutely never ever ever be yours?"

            ".. Wow.. I guess I'd feel pretty bad.  But, you know, there are other fish in the sea.  And there are other digimon too.  Look, she wanted to make you feel bad using an idea from a soap, right?  Well, just do is something similar!  Just get another girl a.s.a.p. and she'll feel so jealous about this new girl that she'll just come running right to you, begging to be taken back."

            "What if that just eases her conscience?  You know, makes her feel like everything worked out okay?"

            "Well, if you have a new girlfriend..... WOULDn't everything be okay?"

            "..."

******At The Takiashi Residence******

            Patamon was dancing to a totally different beat.  "Celebration Time" was playing on T.K.'s computer as the happy digimon did a few celebratory break dance moves on the floor.

            "Who's the mon?  Me me MEE!!!" he said, flipping around.  All the noise brought T.K. in, holding his ears.  The mp3 was playing full blast since the subwoofer had been turned on.  He struggled against the wind of the noise and managed to turn it off.

            "Hey, I was listening to that," complained Patamon, much like Veemon.

            "Yeah, well we're getting complaints from the entire building!" said T.K. "...What are you so happy about anyway?"

            "Guess who's got a date with Gatomon?!"

            "...You?" he asked, deadpan.

            "That's right!!!  Yay for me!!" he said, backfliping across the bed.

            "How on earth did that happen?  I thought she was going out with Veemon..."

            "Yeah, but she said they broke up and she feels it was for the best.  So I asked her out and she said yes!  She's going on a date with me!  Me!  Me!  M-!"

            "I get it already!  Yeesh," said T.K., cutting him off, "So, when's your big date?"

            "Tonight!  She invited me over to the Kamiya's house for dinner.  Say, maybe you and Kari could go out together while we're alone."  T.K. blushed crimson.

            "Oh, c'mon.  You know Kari and I are just good friends."

            "Gatomon and I were just good friends too.  But now we're something more.  Don't give up."

            "..yeah.. YEAH.  You're right!  I'll do it.  I'll ask Kari out when I drop you off."

            "That's the spirit," encouraged, Patamon.

            "I just hope she and Gatomon don't have TOO much in common," said T.K., smirking.

            "What do you mean by that?" asked Patamon, confused.

            "Well... I probably shouldn't tell you this.. but... Gatomon's a real wildcat apparently."

            "How so?"

            "Well, when I went bowling with Kari on Gatomon and Veemon's first date, I wound up having a discussion with Davis in the bathroom.  He told me in his own special way that it wasn't really their first date." Said T.K. blushing.

            "Huh?"

            "I mean, they'd already tested the waters before officially buying the pool," said T.K.

            "Wah???" said Patamon, even more puzzled.

            "...... They did it like dogs in heat on Davis's couch," said T.K.

            "Ohhhh...... WHAT???!!!!!"

            "Yeah, he described it to me in complete detail.  Real wild stuff apparently."

            "You mean like those videos you have on your computer?"

            "SHHH!!!!" T.K. loudly hushed, as though anyone could hear, "Yes, a lot like that."

            "T.K.!" called his mom from the dining room, "Could you come down here?  I need you to help me move some furniture."

            "Coming!" he called out, "Well, I'll see ya later, Patamon.  Good luck with your date!"  With that, T.K. took off leaving Patamon a nervous wreck.

            "Oh no," he panicked, "So Gatomon likes the bold, wild type mon.  Wow, who knew?  Oh boy... What am I gonna do??  I don't know how to act like that!  She'll think I'm a goody-goody and she'll dump me even faster than she did Veemon.  Looks like I've got my work cut out for me!"  He grabbed a notepad and a pencil and sat down at T.K.'s computer.  He turned on one of T.K.'s 'special' movie files and began to jot things down.

******Meanwhile******

            "Okay, I think that narrows it down," said Davis, still sitting on the bed with Veemon, "You have basically two choices left:  Biyomon and Palmon.  Just call one of them up and ask her out."  He handed the phone to Veemon who was still wiping the black lipstick off of his face.

            "But I don't want to go out with either of them!  C'mon, Davis!  A bird or a plant??  Ew!"

            "Dude, you can't afford to be picky right now.  Personally, I'd go with Palmon if I were you."

            "Why Palmon?"

            "Two words:  Lillymon!" said Davis, winking.

            "That's one word."

            "Fine, two syllables."

            "Actually, Lillymon has three."

            "Oh whatever!  You get what I'm saying, right?"

"Well, she's a little tall for me..," said Veemon, unsure.

"And well worth the climb!" finished Davis, "Look, this is for your own good.  Trust me on this one, okay?  You'll thank me later."  Veemon reluctantly took the phone from Davis and punched in the phone number for the Kamiya's place.

            "I know that sound anywhere!  I dial it almost every night!  Why are you calling Kari??"

            "I'm not.  I'm calling Agumon.  He has Palmon's phone number."

            "Oh.  I guess that's okay.  For a second there I thought you were muscling in on my girl," said Davis, snickering.  Veemon rolled his eyes and waited for the connection to open up.

******At the Kamiya's******

            The phone was wringing and Agumon happened to be right next to it.  He picked it up and answered.

            "Hello?" said Agumon.

            "Agumon, don't answer that phone!!" yelled Tai from a distance.

            "Hi Agumon," said Veemon on the other line, "This is Veemon.  Sorry to bug you but-"

            "Agumon who is it??  You know you're not supposed to answer the phone!" said Tai, arriving.

            "Is it Patamon?" asked Gatomon running in too.

            "Sorry and no," said Agumon, "It's Veemon."  Gatomon immediately covered her mouth, hoping that Veemon hadn't heard her on the other end.

            "Tell him I'm not in!" she whispered.

            "He's not asking for you," said Agumon, holding his claws over the receiver, "He just wants Palmon's phone number."

            "...Oh..  Okay, then..." said Gatomon walking away.

            "It's 1-975-," began Agumon, knowing it by heart.  Gatomon walked away from the phone somewhat disappointed.

            "Why would he want Palmon's phone number?  Is he going to ask her out?  How could he just dump me as fast as I dumped him??  He's been hooked on me for months!" she thought, "Oh well.  It's not like I care.  Besides I've got a date with my dream mon!  I can't believe the plan really worked!  I just told him I dumped Veemon and he asked me out right on the spot.  As usual, Gatomon hits another strike!  Hah hah!"  The word strike made here think of the bowling game she and Veemon played.  She smirked to herself.  "What a goofball.  Who else but Vee would think bowling is romantic?"  She remembered suddenly how he held her hands when he had showed her how to throw the ball.  Gatomon put her right paw over her left.  "...It felt just like that I think.  Kinda different I guess since he doesn't have paws...  Yeesh!!  Not this again!  Gatomon, get yourself out of Loserville!  You need to go get ready!"

            Gatomon dashed off towards Kari and Tai's bedroom and shut the door.  Kari had already helped her decorate the room for this special occasion.  There was a card table set up with a designer table cloth covering it.  There were two plates of spaghetti and meatballs under metal covers.  Mood lighting had been put into place by draping some red tapestry over the various lampshades.  On the computer, some soft classical violin music was playing on loop.  Gatomon did a few light touch ups on her ears and face in the mirror, ever watchful of the time.

            "Oh boy, he'll be here any minute!" she thought to herself, "I hope he likes the way I look."  Just then, Kari zipped up behind Gatomon, also adjusting her hair.

            "How do I look?  Is my hair straight??" she asked, panicked.

            "You look fine, why?" asked Gatomon.

            "I just saw their car pull up and T.K.'s coming up with Patamon!"

            "He's here?!" shouted Gatomon, leaping towards the door.

            "Wait for me!" yelled Kari, dashing off after her.

            T.K. and Patamon stood before Kari's door.  Patamon had a bow tie on and T.K. was dressed in some nice pants, a beige shirt, and a sensible sweater.  They both checked their breath simultaneously and took a deep breath.  T.K. was about to knock when the door opened up.  Kari and Gatomon were standing in the doorway looking as beautiful as they possibly could.  T.K. and Patamon beamed back at them.

            "C'mon in Patamon," said Gatomon, taking his paw and leading him inside.

            "You look nice, Kari," said T.K., turning a bit red.

            "Thanks.  So do you..." she replied, not sure what else to say.

            "Uh look, I figured while our digimon have their little date, uh... uhhhh maybe you'd like to go get something to eat?" he stumbled out.

            "Sure," she said, "Let me just get my jacket and leave a note for my mom."  T.K. did a little giddy dance of joy as soon as she ducked back in.

******Meanwhile******

            Patamon and Gatomon had just sat down to dinner.  Agumon walked in with a mustache penciled in on his nose.

"Alo, mon mon!  Ah weel be your waitehr!" he spoke in a poor French accent.  Gatomon put her face in her paws.  "Today, zee chef has prehparevoued a delectabluh spaghetti ahn meatbawls.  Anjoy!"  That said, he lifted the metal covers off of their plates of food and walked out the door.

            ".....What on earth was that??" asked Patamon.

            "A very, very, VERY bored digimon," replied Gatomon, taking her face out of her paws.

            "Maybe he should just get out a little more," said Patamon, smiling.

            "*Gasp* The perfume!" thought Gatomon.  She stood up out of her chair and began moving to the bathroom.  "I'll be right back, okay?" she said.

            "Where're you going?" asked Patamon.

            "Just going to freshen up," said Gatomon, turning her back as she went to the bathroom, her tail flipping back and forth in suggestive zigzags.  She closed the door and left a shocked Patamon sitting at his place.

            "Huh boy, I don't know if I can go through with this!" he thought, "I know she likes wild guys, but I'm just no good at that sort of stuff."  He looked around at the mood-lighting and stepped out of his chair.  He glanced back and forth to make sure no one could see him and peered into the inner side of his left wing/ear.  On it, in faint pencil marks, were some of the notes he had taken from watching T.K.'s movies.  He closed his eyes and mouthed out some things to say.  After he was sure he'd come up with enough sexy things to mention/suggest, he opened his eyes and peered around the room.  "Wow, T.K. wasn't kidding.  She must really want a piece of Pata badly.  Look at all the sex lights.....  Maybe I should just leave.  This isn't my cup of tea at all...  But I can't just leave her; that would be even worse!  Maybe if I just eat real fast and run she'll never notice!  Wait, my ride's gone.  How could I pull that off without T.K. to take me home?  I guess I could fly but..  ohhhh what have I gotten myself into?"  He looked over at Kari's bed and saw the photo of Gatomon and Veemon.  He looked at it with disdain.  He lifted it off of its nail and put it back on, backwards.

            Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Gatomon was spraying herself with puffs of perfume she'd gotten from a shopping trip with Kari.

            "Kisses of a Kitten," she read aloud, "Guaranteed to turn your aloof bobcat into a tame little pussy, purring in your lap.  Purrrfect!"  She hopped off of the counter and walked back into the room.  She cocked her eyes at Patamon who was lying on his side on Kari's bed, trying to look sexy.

            "Hey there, welcome back," he said, smiling slyly, "I almost started without you."  He grinned suavely and winked.

            ".......Yeah.  Well, I think we should eat over here at the table," said Gatomon, sitting back down.  Patamon frowned.

            "Nuts," he thought, "I guess I'm not sexy enough.  I'll just have to turn it up a notch."  He climbed off of the bed and took his seat back at the table.  "So tell me, have you ever had a nature-made hotdog?"

            "A what?" she asked, twisting some spaghetti on her fork.

            "A nature-made hotdog," he repeated, "It's something every gal has to have a BITE of sooner or later if you know what I'm saying."

            "Pardon??" she asked, still not getting it.

            "Uh.. never mind," said Patamon, giving up.  Gatomon ate the spaghetti off of her fork and looked at Patamon slightly puzzled.

            "Patamon, are you feeling okay?" she asked.

            "I'm fine, just fine," lied Patamon.  While she went back to her plate, he took a quick look at his ear.  "So tell me," he said, "is that chair next to the computer made out of real leather?"

            "Hmm?  Um.. I think so," she replied.

            "Do you like leather?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

            "It's nice I suppose."

            "Do you like to WEAR leather?" he asked, putting the tip of his right wing on her leg under the table.  Gatomon put her napkin down on the table and stood up, upset.

            "Okay, Patamon, spill it.  What's going on?!"

            "Don't act like you didn't like it," he said, stepping out of his chair, "In fact, I'll bet what you really need is a little more."  Patamon grinned and stepped closer to her.

            "What the heck are you talking about???" she asked.  Patamon stopped his forward progression and instead hopped up onto Kari's bed and patted the spot next to him.  Gatomon cocked her eyes again and hesitantly sat next to him.

            "Look, let's face it," he said, matter-of-factly, "You and I are really attracted to each other and I think, while this dinner looks delicious, we should just skip it and head straight to desert.  So, whaddya say?"  He leaned in and puckered up, inching towards her.

            "Oh, THAT tears it!" said Gatomon, losing all patience.  She grabbed a pillow and slammed Patamon right in the kisser (no pun intended).  Forgetting that she was a champion, however, she creamed him so hard that he flew back and smashed into the picture of her and Veemon that he'd turned around.  She barely noticed, though, as she rolled Patamon onto his back and stood on his ears, pinning him down.  "Now I admit, I like guys who are a little forward, but you're taking things WAY too far.  Now..... What's all this writing??" she asked, looking at Patamon's ears.

            "No!  Don't look!" he cried.

            "What does all of this mean??  Exactly WHAT are the words missionary, doggy, and backdoor doing written on your ear?!"

            "I was doing this for YOU!" he yelped.

            "......How on earth is harassing me beneficial to ME?!!!"

            "Well, it's all because Veemon told Davis who told T.K. who told me all about the wild night you and Veemon had so I figured you liked bold, sexually driven mon, so I put on this whole routine and is that perfume?  It's nice." he bolted out.

            "Okay, hold on a second!" said Gatomon, silencing him, "Do you mean to tell me that Veemon told Davis I slept with him??"

            "Uh huh.."

            "And that Davis told T.K. and that's where you got this whole idea?!!"

            "*Gulp* yes."

            "So Veemon called me a slut and you believed him?!?!?!  You've known me for far longer than Davis and Veemon have put together!  I can barely even consider the possibility that you didn't even bother to consider that I've never acted like that at all.  I thought you knew me.  I thought I knew you....."  She got off of his ears.  "Get out.  Just get out, Patamon."

            Patamon frowned and got up.  He backed away from her and walked towards the door.  Before leaving, he turned around to face her.

            "One last chance?  Please?" he asked.  A plate full of spaghetti to the face was the only response he got.

To be continued...

Chapter 5:  Rekindling

            Patamon was sitting outside of the Kamiya's apartment.  He had just finished eating the spaghetti off of himself.  Without T.K., he couldn't even actually leave.  Patamon had been crying too, the fur beneath his eyes soaked.  He sniffled a little bit.

            "I can't believe I did that," he sobbed, "I just ruined my chances with the one girl I really felt was special.  How could I do that??  I wasn't even really going to go through with it until she came back from the bathroom.  And then, BANG!  I just lost it and acted like a complete moron.  Now I just have to hope she'll be able to forgive me let alone go out with me again."  He paused to sniffle again and licked some more sauce out of his fur.

            Back inside, Gatomon was pacing back and forth, trying to come up with the perfect punishment for Veemon.

            "So, he thinks he can get away with spreading rumors about me, huh?  Well, I'll show him!  I'll teach him what happens when you mess with Gatomon!  Fah!  He's so dumb that if I pulled some crafty revenge he'd never even get it.  I think the direct approach is what's needed here.  I'm just gonna go right over to Davis's place and punch that little blue liar right in the nose!!"

            Gatomon stomped out of Kari's room and headed for the front door.  She opened it up, smacking Patamon to the side.

            "One side, pig!" she growled, not even giving him a glance.  She lept up on top of the roof and began her trip to the Motomiya's complex.

            "How should I let him have it?" she thought, "Maybe I ought to kick him where it counts instead of punching him in the nose.  Yeah!  That way the scumball won't be able to reproduce!!  Maybe I could talk to gennai about having his place in primary village taken away so that when he dies a cold and lonely death, he'll never be able to come back again!  Insult ME will he?  Ruin MY date will he?!!  This is it, Vee, I mean VeeMON, the final straw!!"

            She landed on the roof of the Motomiya's apartment building.

            "Wow, it's amazing how fast time flies when you're ticked off," she commented landing in front of Davis's door.  She wrang the bell and waited paciently, practicing her punches and kicks.  Davis's mother opened it up.

            "Oh, hello there, Gatomon," she said, "Are you here to see Veemon?"

            "In a way," she said, trying to contain her anger, "Is he in?"

            "I'm not sure.  Davis is grounded in his room for ruining my fruit and gluing his sister's hands to her face," she said.  Gatomon gave her an odd look.  "Don't ask.  Anyway, if Veemon's here he's probably keeping him company."

            "Thanks," she said, walking in, "Oh, if you hear some odd noises, try to ignore them okay?"  Davis's mom shrugged and shut the door after Gatomon.  As soon as Davis's mom was out of the way, Gatomon stomped over to Davis's door and kicked it open.  Davis was sitting on his bed reading a comic book.

"Alright Davis, where's Veemon?!"

"Captain Groovey, your voice changed!  Say, how do you know about Veemon?" he asked the comic book.

"It's Gatomon," she said, deadpan.

"You know Gatomon too?" Davis asked the comic, "Say, when am I gonna get to help you save the earth??"

"Drop the comic book, Davis," said Gatomon, "It's not funny."

"I dunno, I thought it was a pretty clever little shtick.  So, what do you want?"

"Where's Veemon, Davis?" she asked.

"Haven't you done enough to him?" asked Davis, going back to his comic book.

            "Done enough to HIM?!  HE's spreading rumors that I slept with him!"  Upon hearing that, Davis began to sweat.

            "Uh, pardon?" he said.

            "You heard me, he told you, you told T.K., T.K. told Patamon, and Patamon believed it and tried to make a pass at me in a most unflattering way!  Now tell me where he is so I can go kick his blue butt to the curb!"

            "He's on a date with Palmon," said Davis, "But I think there's something you should.."

            "Where?" she asked, gripping Davis by his shirt collars.

            "Uh I uh uhhh," said Davis, fumbling for the words.

            "WHERE?" she repeated angrily.

******In America******

            Veemon was sitting in Mimi's living room, waiting for Palmon to finnish getting ready.  He'd gotten there through the digital world and had popped in through Mimi's computer a little earlier.  Mimi was sitting on a big chair near the couch on which Veemon waited.  She had folded her legs and was sipping at a cup of warm coco.

            "SO, what exactly are your plans with my digimon tonight, young mon?" she asked, trying to sound parental.

            "Well, we're gonna go to a restaurant in Japan called Young Sing.  They've got really good seafood."

            "I see.  I certainly hope you treat her like a lady," said Mimi, ever suspicious, "Because I don't want to find out you've done anything you know you shouldn't, if you catch my drift."

            "Yes, Ma'am," said Veemon, shifting nervously in his seat.  Palmon had finished freshening up in the bathroom and came out, looking about the same as usual.

            "Okay, Veemon, let's get going," she said, waving to him from the computer.

            "Coming!" he said, heading over to her.

            "Be back soon," called Mimi.

            "We will," they both shouted back before disappearing into the computer screen.

******At the Kamiya's******

            Agumon was taking a warm shower.

            "Boogie fevah!  Ah got ta boogie down!" sang Agumon, "Boogie fevah!  I think it's goin' around!"  He squirted some shampoo into his claws and rubbed it all over his bald head.  "I took my baby to the drive-in show.  She turned the speaker down.  And then she turned on the radio.  I watched the silent movie diggin' its funky sound!  She's go the boogie feveah!  She likes ta boogie d..!"  Suddenly there was a loud knocking on the door.

            "Come in!" said Agumon.  He heard footsteps as someone entered the room and shut the door.  The shower curtains were pulled open and Gatomon stood in front of him, her paws on her hips.

            "Eeeek!" Agumon mocked-screamed.

            "Knock it off," said Gatomon, tossing him a towel, "and dry yourself off.  You're taking me out on a date."

            "Huh?" said Agumon, getting hit by the towel.

******Later******

            Agumon and Gatomon walked arm in arm to the Young Sing restaurant.

            "This feels really uncomfortable, Gatomon," he whispered, "Nothing personal, but I've always thought of you as a sister, not a girlfriend."

            "Don't get the wrong impression, Agumon," she said, "I just need it to LOOK like we're on a date."

            "......Huh???" he said.  Gatomon pulled him into an alley.  Gatomon looked around and grabbed his shoulders.

            "Okay, listen up," she said, "Veemon's having a date at Young Sing also.  Because his lie messed up MY date so badly, you and I are gonna mess his up too.  Got it?"

            "What?!" said Agumon, "That's terrible!  I know you're mad, but wouldn't it be easier to just punch him or something?"

            "I thought so too, but if there's anything I've learned, its that Veemon doesn't learn from being direct, you've gotta be sneaky."

            "Look, I really think you should find some other way of doing this," he said, taking her paws off of him, "Some way that doesn't involve me."

            "..Did I mention that he's a having a date with PALmon?" she asked coyly.

            "......Let's rock," said Agumon, now equally determined.

******Meanwhile******

            Palmon and Veemon were about to walk into the restaurant when Palmon turned to look behind them.

            "Did you hear something?" she asked.

            "No, what did you hear?" he responded.

            "I thought I heard someone saying 'Veemon'."

            "hmm...  Oh well.  Let's just have a nice dinner, okay?"

            "Yes, let's," she said, taking his hand.  They both walked through the door and found an empty table.  Following suit, Agumon and Gatomon walked in too.

            They peered around a wall and saw Palmon and Veemon looking at menus.

            "Okay, we need to figure out how to get Veemon to totally screw up so he looks like a complete fool," she whispered, still staring at them.

            "You know, I didn't notice it before," said Agumon, "but you smell really nice."

            "Huh?  Oh, thanks, it's my new perfume."  Agumon slowly brought his arms around her and began sniffing her fur.

            "......What are you doing?" she asked, slowly turning her head to look back at him.

            "Hmm?  Oh!  Sorry," he whispered back, letting go.

            "Whatever, let's just find a place to sit where we can see them but where they can't see us."  Agumon and Gatomon tiptoed over to a table with a big plant next to it.  Gatomon peered through the leaves and had a clear shot of them.

            Palmon's eyes widened, still apparently looking at Veemon.

            "Something wrong?" he asked.

            "Veemon, I know this sounds crazy, but I just saw Agumon and Gatomon heading over to a table over there," she said, not moving an inch.

            "Where?" asked Veemon, turning to look.

            "Don't look!" she said, grabbing his head and turning it back, "Maybe he didn't see us."

            "What would Gatomon be doing here?  And with Agumon of all mon?" asked Veemon.

            "I thought you said that if I went out with you and told Gatomon what a good time I had you'd set me up with Agumon!" said Palmon, "If he sees me here, it could all be ruined!  *gasp*  Oh no!  What if he thinks I like you?!"

            "Don't panic, just play it cool and we'll be fine.  I'll think of something," Veemon, said, reassuringly.

            "Okay," said Gatomon, already formulating a plan, "Now what I suggest we do is get the waiter to put something in their food that will give Veemon a problem and make him cough or barf or something, what do you think?"  Agumon was staring at her with romantic eyes.

            "You know, you look pretty when you scheme," he said, smiling.

            "Stop kidding around, Agumon," she said, continuing to look at them from the plant.

            "Hm?  Oh right," he said, snapping out of it, "I guess that could work, but what would we put in the food that would totally mess things up?  ...  Hey, how about Veemon's face?"

            "Huh?"

            "Easy, we just find a way to trip the waiter so he dumps food all over Veemon.  That'll embarrass him and ruin their date for sure!"

            "Not bad," said Gatomon.

            "Thank you my darling," said Agumon, once again in a love trance.

            "What the heck is wrong with you??"

            "Well," said Agumon, taking her paws in his, "I figured that since we're supposed to be on a date, we should be acting the part."

            "For who?" she asked, taking her paws away, "They don't even know we're here."

            "Oh right, sorry, I uh.. I was just kidding."

            "Well, knock it off because a waiter is heading their way!" she whispered harshly.  A waiter with a tray full of food was heading for the table to the left of Agumon and Gatomon's.  If he tripped, the food would fly forward far enough to land right on Veemon's head.  Agumon ducked under the table in the nick of time and stuck his let out just as the waiter went by.  Even though most waiter have good balance, this guy was new to the gig and tripped easily enough.  Sure enough, the food flew up into the air and landed right on Veemon.

            "Wahh!! HOT HOT HOT!!!" he shouted, leaping out of his seat.

            "I'm so sorry, sir," said the waiter, cleaning Veemon off with a towel, "I'm such a klutz."

            "Oh, uh, that's okay," said Veemon, wiping the food off.  After a few more apologies and wipes, the waiter went back into the kitchen and got some more food for the hungry customers.

            "Nice one," giggled Gatomon to Agumon.

            "Did it work?" he asked from under the table.

            "I think so," she said.  Gatomon's eyes bugged open when she suddenly felt something scaly running up and down her leg.  She lifted the tablecloth and saw Agumon feeling her leg with his claws.

            "You know, you have really nice legs," he said, lifting his eyebrows.

            "Okay, now you're taking that joke just a little too far," she said, deadpan.

            "Huh?  OH!  Sorry," he said, nervously clambering back into his seat.  She gave him a quizzical look and he smiled, brightly.  She shrugged a little and looked back at them through the bushes.  Veemon and Palmon were giggling together about the whole ordeal.

            "Nuts!  That didn't work at all...... Wait!  Of course!  Agumon!  I know exactly what you can do to mess things up!"

            "Why is it always me who has to do all of this?" asked Agumon.

            "You'll like this, trust me," said Gatomon.

            "Why, what do I have to do?"

            "Simple, go over there to look at the lobsters and act like you just noticed them.  You go over to them and start hitting on Palmon.  Do whatever it takes to get her to leave this restaurant with you."

            "You're right, I like that plan a lot!" he said, happily climbing out of the seat, "By the way, have I mentioned how nice you smell?  Because you smell REALLY nice."

            Gatomon sat in her seat, confused.  Her eyes bugged open.

            "Oh my God.  The perfume!" she thought, "No wonder Patamon acted the way he did!  My perfume mixed with my natural sexiness must have driven him insane!  *groan*, and I threw spaghetti in his face and slammed a door into him.  That means not only did I hurt Patamon's feelings but now I just sent.. OH NO!  I've gotta stop Agumon!!"  But she was too late, for Agumon had already started talking to Palmon and Veemon.  Gatomon wanted to get up and stop him, but if she was seen with Agumon that would lead to a bunch of questions about who she liked that Gatomon really didn't want to answer.  She just covered up her face and hoped that Agumon would mess up.

            After about 10 minutes of babbling, Agumon and Palmon had moved to another table leaving Veemon all by himself.  Gatomon bit her lower lip, feeling terrible as Veemon stirred his soup with dejected motions.  Veemon frowned and looked over at Palmon and Agumon, laughing it up and having a wonderful time in general.  He put his face in his hands sniffled a bit.  Gatomon pulled away from the plant and wallowed in guilt.  A little bit later, Palmon and Agumon got up and left, not even saying goodbye to Veemon.

            "My plan to show Gatomon I didn't need her failed, my date left me for another mon, I smell like noodles.... what else can go wrong?" Veemon muttered.

            "Your bill, sir," said a waiter, handing him a bill for $100, "I assume since your friends left that you will be paying the tab?"

            "Uh right, sure," said Veemon.  His eyes opened up as he remembered Palmon saying they'd go 'dutch' tonight, meaning that SHE would be paying.  He never thought to bring any money with him.

            "Heh heh, You'll never guess what, I'm one of the newest in robotic pets and I don't have any money on me...... Tadah!  Looks like I can't pay... heh..."  The waiter cocked an eyebrow at him.

******Later******

            Veemon was in the kitchen of the restaurant, standing on a stool, washing dishes.  He didn't care very much, though.  Things really couldn't get any worse THIS time at least.

            "Hey, your tab was picked up by another one of your electronic toy friends," said a waiter to Veemon, "You're free to go."

            "Oh, thanks," said Veemon, surprised, "Who was it, anyway?"

            "I dunno, some cat," he said.

            "Gatomon..," Veemon, thought, hopping down from the stool.

            He ran out into the restaurant to see if she was still there.  To his dismay, she wasn't waiting for him.

            "Oh," he thought, "I guess it was just her being friendly. ..... I've gotta talk to her."

            He marched out of the restaurant and walked back to the Kamiya complex, determined not to leave until he and Gatomon had tied up all the loose ends.  He rode the elevator up in silence and knocked on their door.  It was late, he knew, but this had to come to an end sooner or later.  After a little bit, he heard someone moving something against the door.  It was Gatomon, sliding a stepladder so she could look out the peephole.

            "Well, I should have expected this," she thought, seeing him standing there.  Gatomon hopped down and pushed the stepladder aside.  She opened the door and stood before Veemon.  Neither of them said anything.  ".........Hi," she said finally.

            "We need to talk," he said, seriously, "Can I come in?"

            "Sure," said Gatomon, stepping aside.  Veemon walked in and sat on the couch.  Gatomon closed the door and pulled up a chair so she was facing Veemon.

            "......Well, first off, thank you for paying for my dinner," said Veemon.

            "Um, sure, no problem," said Gatomon, looking down.

            "Gatomon," he said, carefully, "There are a lot of places in Japan to eat.  I want to know why you just happened to be at the one where I was having my date."

            "Well, I.. I just.. figured..... I thought maybe.. I guess I wanted to.. to.." she stammered.

            "To what, ruin my date?" asked Veemon, getting upset, "Wasn't it enough?!  Wasn't saying that you never loved me enough?!  Wasn't calling me a jerk and shoving me away after pretending to lose your memory just so I'd leave you alone enough for you??  Yeah, that's right, Davis told me ALL about it.  Why'd you do it?  Do you like to see me unhappy, Gatomon?  Does that make you feel g-good?  Make you f-feel like a b-big girl?  Well here you go!!  S-see?!!!  I'm crying now!"  He was indeed, dripping tears on the couch.  "Feeling better?!  Look!  Look at my face!  Take a picture so you can sleep better!" he shouted, clenching his teeth together.  Gatomon's lower lip was quivering.  Her eyes were watering up and she looked like she was trying to say something.  Finally, she turned her sadness into anger and gripped a nearby pillow.

            "Well, at least I didn't go spreading nasty rumors about YOU!" she said, "You have some nerve!  Coming over here, making me feel bad.  You had it coming!"

            "What rumor?!" he shouted back.

            "How about the fact that you told Davis that I slept with you?  Hmm?  How about THAT, Veemon?!"

            "All I told Davis about the night we slept together was that you were warm, you were soft, and it felt good.  You were, you were, and it did.  Period."  Gatomon felt ashamed.  She let go of the pillow, realizing what she'd done.  "How could you think that I'd EVER do that to you?" he sniffled.  Gatomon didn't answer for a while Veemon got a hold of himself.

            "I'm sorry, Veemon," she said, finally, "I was wrong.  I tricked you and hurt your feelings and I'm sorry."  Neither of them said anything for a few minutes.  Gatomon stood up out of her chair.  Veemon's eyes followed her as she put her knees between his legs.  Gatomon stared at him, right in the eye.  She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him closely.  Veemon swallowed and piped up once more, quieter than before.

            "Take your paws off me," he said, coldly.  Gatomon slowly complied, moving back.

"I deserved that," she said,    quietly, "Worse actually."

"..I didn't just come over to tell you off," he said carefully, "I also wanted to apologize.  If you kept your hands on me, you wouldn't be able to smack me."

            ".....For what?" Gatomon asked, "You were right to say all of those things."

            "Not for that," he said, ".......Gatomon, it's true that Davis told me about your plan but I knew about it long before then."

            "What??" said Gatomon, surprised.

            "That night I told Davis that I felt guilty for lying to you about being your boyfriend," said Veemon, "He told me to read something to ease my mind.  So, I picked up the first thing I found and read part of it.  That first thing was the TV guide.  There was a small summary of a soap opera episode that was being re-run where 'Barbara dumps the guy who's been annoying her by faking amnesia.'  I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier but I put two and two together.  I guess.. I guess I hoped that maybe if I let you keep pretending to like me, you might have wound up liking me for real.  I'm sorry."  He looked up at Gatomon to see how she was taking this.

Gatomon was shivering with rage.  A vein in her forehead was throbbing as she gripped her right paw into a fist.

"So, you made me put on a whole charade, thinking it would make me fall in love with you?!!"

"..That's right," he said, quietly.  Gatomon lept to her feet and angrily grabbed Veemon by the scruff of his collar.  She jumped up on the couch, still holding him and threw him against the arm of the couch, on his back.

"YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!" she yelled, furiously.  Veemon clenched his whole mouth, waiting for the final blow.  Several seconds went by, though, and he didn't feel any pain.  Suddenly, he was wrapped by warmth.

"So this is what heaven is like," he thought, "Wow, I was expecting more angels and light and stuff.  It's actually sorta warm here..... Uh oh.  .......  No, wait a second.. I'm not deleted, I just have my eyes shut.... Then what..?"  He opened them slowly, one at a time and found Gatomon lying on top of him hugging him gently.  She turned her head and kissed him tenderly on the cheek.

"W-why'd you do that?" he asked, quietly.

".....Because you drive me crazy," she whispered softly in his ear.  Gatomon slid her paws down the side of Veemon's body and took hold of his hands.  She placed them on the small of her back and hugged him again.  Veemon smiled and nuzzled against her cheek, hugging her back.

"Gatomon," he said, quietly, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"..Mhmm," she whispered back.

"The only reason Palmon went out with me was because I wanted to show you how I was a real lady killer who you missed out on.  And the only reason she accepted was because I promised her I'd get Agumon to ask her out if she blabbed to you about how great I was.  I wanted to make you feel jealous.  I'm sorry for that."  Gatomon giggled a bit, thinking it was more cute than offensive.

"..That's okay," she said, quietly too, "Veemon?  Can I tell you a secret too?"

"..Mhmm," he whispered back.

"You know that night you were going to kiss me, but I pushed you away?  Well, I haven't stopped thinking about it since.  You know, that would have been my very first kiss and I blew it."

"Really?  What about Wizardmon, didn't he ever kiss you?"

"Wizardmon and I were friends but it never got past that point," she said, "Besides, love wasn't exactly encouraged in Myotismon's army.  Then Patamon tried to kiss me when I went out with him.  I got mad and threw spaghetti in his face."  Veemon chuckled slightly, imagining Patamon with a face covered in pasta.  "I guess I've always been that way.  It's still hard for me to get close to anyone.  Kari and I bonded easily but everything else is a challenge.  That's the real reason I've always pushed you away.  No one ever showed me actual love like you did.  Everyone has always judged me by my past in one way or another.  They do a good job of downplaying it, but it's always there.  You never judged me harshly even once.  I guess I didn't know how lucky I was back then.  But Agumon was right when he said you were a digimon who brings people luck.  I feel really lucky right now."

"..Gatomon?" said Veemon.  Before she could respond, he rolled around so he was dipping her down onto the couch pillows and kissed her full on the lips.  Gatomon's chest heaved up slightly as she gasped through her nose.  As she relaxed, she brought her arms around Veemon's neck and pulled him in deeper.  Veemon held her tighter as well, his hear racing as the kiss lingered.  His eyes gradually opened and their lips reluctantly parted.

"How was it?" he asked.

"More," she replied.  Not being one to argue, Veemon complied with another kiss, his heart speeding up again once more.  Gatomon couldn't get over how it all felt, his warm body, his loving embrace,.. his lips pressed against hers.  This kiss ended soon too though.  Gatomon hugged him again, rocking back and forth slowly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"........So, does this mean we're going steady?" he asked.

"Just so long as I can call you Vee again," she whispered back.

"Deal," he said kissing her cheek.  Veemon rolled off and next to her, between the back of the couch and her back, holding her close just like he did the first time they spent the night together.

To be continued...


	5. Rekindling

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 5:  Rekindling

            Patamon was sitting outside of the Kamiya's apartment.  He had just finished eating the spaghetti off of himself.  Without T.K., he couldn't even actually leave.  Patamon had been crying too, the fur beneath his eyes soaked.  He sniffled a little bit.

            "I can't believe I did that," he sobbed, "I just ruined my chances with the one girl I really felt was special.  How could I do that??  I wasn't even really going to go through with it until she came back from the bathroom.  And then, BANG!  I just lost it and acted like a complete moron.  Now I just have to hope she'll be able to forgive me let alone go out with me again."  He paused to sniffle again and licked some more sauce out of his fur.

            Back inside, Gatomon was pacing back and forth, trying to come up with the perfect punishment for Veemon.

            "So, he thinks he can get away with spreading rumors about me, huh?  Well, I'll show him!  I'll teach him what happens when you mess with Gatomon!  Fah!  He's so dumb that if I pulled some crafty revenge he'd never even get it.  I think the direct approach is what's needed here.  I'm just gonna go right over to Davis's place and punch that little blue liar right in the nose!!"

            Gatomon stomped out of Kari's room and headed for the front door.  She opened it up, smacking Patamon to the side.

            "One side, pig!" she growled, not even giving him a glance.  She leapt up on top of the roof and began her trip to the Motomiya's complex.

            "How should I let him have it?" she thought, "Maybe I ought to kick him where it counts instead of punching him in the nose.  Yeah!  That way the scum ball won't be able to reproduce!!  Maybe I could talk to Gennai about having his place in primary village taken away so that when he dies a cold and lonely death, he'll never be able to come back again!  Insult ME will he?  Ruin MY date will he?!!  This is it, Vee, I mean VeeMON, the final straw!!"

            She landed on the roof of the Motomiya's apartment building.

            "Wow, it's amazing how fast time flies when you're ticked off," she commented landing in front of Davis's door.  She wringed the bell and waited patiently, practicing her punches and kicks.  Davis's mother opened it up.

            "Oh, hello there, Gatomon," she said, "Are you here to see Veemon?"

            "In a way," she said, trying to contain her anger, "Is he in?"

            "I'm not sure.  Davis is grounded in his room for ruining my fruit and gluing his sister's hands to her face," she said.  Gatomon gave her an odd look.  "Don't ask.  Anyway, if Veemon's here he's probably keeping him company."

            "Thanks," she said, walking in, "Oh, if you hear some odd noises, try to ignore them okay?"  Davis's mom shrugged and shut the door after Gatomon.  As soon as Davis's mom was out of the way, Gatomon stomped over to Davis's door and kicked it open.  Davis was sitting on his bed reading a comic book.

"Alright Davis, where's Veemon?!"

"Captain Groovy, your voice changed!  Say, how do you know about Veemon?" he asked the comic book.

"It's Gatomon," she said, deadpan.

"You know Gatomon too?" Davis asked the comic, "Say, when am I gonna get to help you save the earth??"

"Drop the comic book, Davis," said Gatomon, "It's not funny."

"I dunno, I thought it was a pretty clever little shtick," he said, putting it down, "So, what do you want?"

"Where's Veemon, Davis?" she asked.

"Haven't you done enough to him?" asked Davis, going back to his comic book.

            "Done enough to HIM?!  HE's spreading rumors that I slept with him!"  Upon hearing that, Davis began to sweat.

            "Uh, pardon?" he said.

            "You heard me, he told you, you told T.K., T.K. told Patamon, and Patamon believed it and tried to make a pass at me in a most unflattering way!  Now tell me where he is so I can go kick his blue butt to the curb!"

            "He's on a date with Palmon," said Davis, "But I think there's something you should.."

            "Where?" she asked, gripping Davis by his shirt collars.

            "Uh I uh uhhh," said Davis, fumbling for the words.

            "WHERE?" she repeated angrily.

******In America******

            Veemon was sitting in Mimi's living room, waiting for Palmon to finish getting ready.  He'd gotten there through the digital world and had popped in through Mimi's computer a little earlier.  Mimi was sitting on a big chair near the couch on which Veemon waited.  She had folded her legs and was sipping at a cup of warm coco.

            "SO, what exactly are your plans with my digimon tonight, young mon?" she asked, trying to sound parental.

            "Well, we're gonna go to a restaurant in Japan called Young Sing.  They've got really good seafood."

            "I see.  I certainly hope you treat her like a lady," said Mimi, ever suspicious, "Because I don't want to find out you've done anything you know you shouldn't, if you catch my drift."

            "Yes, Ma'am," said Veemon, shifting nervously in his seat.  Palmon had finished freshening up in the bathroom and came out, looking about the same as usual.

            "Okay, Veemon, let's get going," she said, waving to him from the computer.

            "Coming!" he said, heading over to her.

            "Be back soon," called Mimi.

            "We will," they both shouted back before disappearing into the computer screen.

******At the Kamiya's******

            Agumon was taking a warm shower.

            "Boogie fevah!  Ah got ta boogie down!" sang Agumon, "Boogie fevah!  I think it's goin' around!"  He squirted some shampoo into his claws and rubbed it all over his bald head.  "I took my baby to the drive-in show.  She turned the speaker down.  And then she turned on the radio.  I watched the silent movie diggin' its funky sound!  She's go the boogie fevah!  She likes ta boogie d..!"  Suddenly there was a loud knocking on the door.

            "Come in!" said Agumon.  He heard footsteps as someone entered the room and shut the door.  The shower curtains were pulled open and Gatomon stood in front of him, her paws on her hips.

            "Eeeek!" Agumon mocked-screamed.

            "Knock it off," said Gatomon, tossing him a towel, "and dry yourself off.  You're taking me out on a date."

            "Huh?" said Agumon, getting hit by the towel.

******Later******

            Agumon and Gatomon walked arm in arm to the Young Sing restaurant.

            "This feels really uncomfortable, Gatomon," he whispered, "Nothing personal, but I've always thought of you as a sister, not a girlfriend."

            "Don't get the wrong impression, Agumon," she said, "I just need it to LOOK like we're on a date."

            "......Huh???" he said.  Gatomon pulled him into an alley.  Gatomon looked around and grabbed his shoulders.

            "Okay, listen up," she said, "Veemon's having a date at Young Sing also.  Because his lie messed up MY date so badly, you and I are gonna mess his up too.  Got it?"

            "What?!" said Agumon, "That's terrible!  I know you're mad, but wouldn't it be easier to just punch him or something?"

            "I thought so too, but if there's anything I've learned, it's that Veemon doesn't learn from being direct, you've gotta be sneaky."

            "Look, I really think you should find some other way of doing this," he said, taking her paws off of him, "Some way that doesn't involve me."

            "..Did I mention that he's a having a date with PALmon?" she asked coyly.

            "......Let's rock," said Agumon, now equally determined.

******Meanwhile******

            Palmon and Veemon were about to walk into the restaurant when Palmon turned to look behind them.

            "Did you hear something?" she asked.

            "No, what did you hear?" he responded.

            "I thought I heard someone saying 'Veemon'."

            "hmm...  Oh well.  Let's just have a nice dinner, okay?"

            "Yes, let's," she said, taking his hand.  They both walked through the door and found an empty table.  Following suit, Agumon and Gatomon walked in too.

            They peered around a wall and saw Palmon and Veemon looking at menus.

            "Okay, we need to figure out how to get Veemon to totally screw up so he looks like a complete fool," she whispered, still staring at them.

            "You know, I didn't notice it before," said Agumon, "but you smell really nice."

            "Huh?  Oh, thanks, it's my new perfume."  Agumon slowly brought his arms around her and began sniffing her fur.

            "......What are you doing?" she asked, slowly turning her head to look back at him.

            "Hmm?  Oh!  Sorry," he whispered back, letting go.

            "Whatever, let's just find a place to sit where we can see them but where they can't see us."  Agumon and Gatomon tiptoed over to a table with a big plant next to it.  Gatomon peered through the leaves and had a clear shot of them.

            Palmon's eyes widened, still apparently looking at Veemon.

            "Something wrong?" he asked.

            "Veemon, I know this sounds crazy, but I just saw Agumon and Gatomon heading over to a table over there," she said, not moving an inch.

            "Where?" asked Veemon, turning to look.

            "Don't look!" she said, grabbing his head and turning it back, "Maybe he didn't see us."

            "What would Gatomon be doing here?  And with Agumon of all mon?" asked Veemon.

            "I thought you said that if I went out with you and told Gatomon what a good time I had you'd set me up with Agumon!" said Palmon, "If he sees me here, it could all be ruined!  *gasp*  Oh no!  What if he thinks I like you?!"

            "Don't panic, just play it cool and we'll be fine.  I'll think of something," Veemon, said, reassuringly.

            "Okay," said Gatomon, already formulating a plan, "Now what I suggest we do is get the waiter to put something in their food that will give Veemon a problem and make him cough or barf or something, what do you think?"  Agumon was staring at her with romantic eyes.

            "You know, you look pretty when you scheme," he said, smiling.

            "Stop kidding around, Agumon," she said, continuing to look at them from the plant.

            "Hm?  Oh right," he said, snapping out of it, "I guess that could work, but what would we put in the food that would totally mess things up?  ...  Hey, how about Veemon's face?"

            "Huh?"

            "All we have to do is find a way to trip a waiter so he dumps food all over Veemon.  That'll embarrass him and ruin their date for sure!"

            "Not bad," said Gatomon.

            "Thank you my darling," said Agumon, once again in a love trance.

            "What the heck is wrong with you??"

            "Well," said Agumon, taking her paws in his, "I figured that since we're supposed to look like we're on a date, we should be acting the part."

            "For who?" she asked, taking her paws away, "They don't even know we're here."

            "Oh right, sorry, I uh.. I was just kidding."

            "Well, knock it off because a waiter is heading their way!" she whispered harshly.  A waiter with a tray full of food was heading for the table to the left of Agumon and Gatomon's.  If he tripped, the food would fly forward far enough to land right on Veemon's head.  Agumon ducked under the table in the nick of time and stuck his let out just as the waiter went by.  Even though most waiters have good balance, this guy was new to the gig and tripped easily enough.  Sure enough, the food flew up into the air and landed right on Veemon.

            "Wahh!! HOT HOT HOT!!!" he shouted, leaping out of his seat.

            "I'm so sorry, sir," said the waiter, cleaning Veemon off with a towel, "I'm such a klutz."

            "Oh, uh, that's okay," said Veemon, wiping the food off.  After a few more apologies and wipes, the waiter went back into the kitchen and got some more food for the hungry customers.

            "Nice one," giggled Gatomon to Agumon.

            "Did it work?" he asked from under the table.

            "I think so," she said.  Gatomon's eyes bugged open when she suddenly felt something scaly running up and down her leg.  She lifted the tablecloth and saw Agumon feeling her leg with his claws.

            "You know, you have really nice legs," he said, lifting his eyebrows.

            "Okay, now you're taking that joke just a little too far," she said, deadpan.

            "Huh?  OH!  Sorry," he said, nervously clambering back into his seat.  She gave him a quizzical look and he smiled, brightly.  She shrugged a little and looked back at them through the bushes.  Veemon and Palmon were giggling together about the whole ordeal.

            "Nuts!  That didn't work at all...... Wait!  Of course!  Agumon!  I know exactly what you can do to mess things up!"

            "Why is it always me who has to do all of this?" asked Agumon.

            "You'll like this, trust me," said Gatomon.

            "Why, what do I have to do?"

            "Simple, go over there to look at the lobsters and act like you just noticed them.  You go over to them and start hitting on Palmon.  Do whatever it takes to get her to leave this restaurant with you."

            "You're right, I like that plan a lot!" he said, happily climbing out of the seat, "By the way, have I mentioned how nice you smell?  Because you smell REALLY nice."

            Gatomon sat in her seat, confused.  Her eyes bugged open.

            "Oh my God.  The perfume!" she thought, "No wonder Patamon acted the way he did!  My perfume mixed with my natural sexiness must have driven him insane!  *groan*, and I threw spaghetti in his face and slammed a door into him.  That means not only did I hurt Patamon's feelings but now I just sent.. OH NO!  I've gotta stop Agumon!!"  But she was too late, for Agumon had already started talking to Palmon and Veemon.  Gatomon wanted to get up and stop him, but if she was seen with Agumon that would lead to a bunch of questions about who she liked that Gatomon really didn't want to answer.  She just covered up her face and hoped that Agumon would mess up.

            After about 10 minutes of babbling, Agumon and Palmon had moved to another table leaving Veemon all by himself.  Gatomon bit her lower lip, feeling terrible as Veemon stirred his soup with dejected motions.  Veemon frowned and looked over at Palmon and Agumon, laughing it up and having a wonderful time in general.  He put his face in his hands sniffled a bit.  Gatomon pulled away from the plant and wallowed in guilt.  A little bit later, Palmon and Agumon got up and left, not even saying goodbye to Veemon.

            "My plan to show Gatomon I didn't need her failed, my date left me for another mon, I smell like noodles.... what else can go wrong?" Veemon muttered.

            "Your bill, sir," said a waiter, handing him a bill for $100, "I assume since your friends left that you will be paying?"

            "Uh right, sure," said Veemon.  His eyes opened up as he remembered Palmon saying they'd go 'dutch' tonight, meaning that SHE would be paying.  He never thought to bring any money with him.

            "Heh heh, You'll never guess what, I'm one of the newest in robotic pets and I don't have any money on me...... Tadah!  Looks like I can't pay... heh..."  The waiter cocked an eyebrow at him.

******Later******

            Veemon was in the kitchen of the restaurant, standing on a stool, washing dishes.  He didn't care very much, though.  Things really couldn't get any worse THIS time at least.

            "Hey, your tab was picked up by another one of your electronic toy friends," said a waiter to Veemon, "You're free to go."

            "Oh, thanks," said Veemon, surprised, "Who was it, anyway?"

            "I dunno, some cat," he said.

            "Gatomon..," Veemon, thought, hopping down from the stool.

            He ran out into the restaurant to see if she was still there.  To his dismay, she wasn't waiting for him.

            "Oh," he thought, "I guess it was just her being friendly. ..... I've gotta talk to her."

            He marched out of the restaurant and walked back to the Kamiya complex, determined not to leave until he and Gatomon had tied up all the loose ends.  He rode the elevator up in silence and knocked on their door.  It was late, he knew, but this had to come to an end sooner or later.  After a little bit, he heard someone moving something against the door.  It was Gatomon, sliding a stepladder so she could look out the peephole.

            "Well, I should have expected this," she thought, seeing him standing there.  Gatomon hopped down and pushed the stepladder aside.  She opened the door and stood before Veemon.  Neither of them said anything.  ".........Hi," she said finally.

            "We need to talk," he said, seriously, "Can I come in?"

            "Sure," said Gatomon, stepping aside.  Veemon walked in and sat on the couch.  Gatomon closed the door and pulled up a chair so she was facing Veemon.

            "......Well, first off, thank you for paying for my dinner," said Veemon.

            "Um, sure, no problem," said Gatomon, looking down.

            "Gatomon," he said, carefully, "There are a lot of places in Japan to eat.  I want to know why you just happened to be at the one where I was having my date."

            "Well, I.. I just.. figured..... I thought maybe.. I guess I wanted to.. to.." she stammered.

            "To what, ruin my date?" asked Veemon, getting upset, "Wasn't it enough?!  Wasn't saying that you never loved me enough?!  Wasn't calling me a jerk and shoving me away after pretending to lose your memory just so I'd leave you alone enough for you??  Yeah, that's right, Davis told me ALL about it.  Why'd you do it?  Do you like to see me unhappy, Gatomon?  Does that make you feel g-good?  Make you f-feel like a b-big girl?  Well here you go!!  S-see?!!!  I'm crying now!"  He was indeed, dripping tears on the couch.  "Feeling better?!  Look!  Look at my face!  Take a picture so you can sleep better!" he shouted, clenching his teeth together.  Gatomon's lower lip was quivering.  Her eyes were watering up and she looked like she was trying to say something.  Finally, she turned her sadness into anger and gripped a nearby pillow.

            "Well, at least I didn't go spreading nasty rumors about YOU!" she said, "You have some nerve!  Coming over here, making me feel bad.  You had it coming!"

            "What rumor?!" he shouted back.

            "How about the fact that you told Davis that I slept with you?  Hmm?  How about THAT, Veemon?!"

            "All I told Davis about the night we slept together was that you were warm, you were soft, and it felt good.  You were, you were, and it did.  Period."  Gatomon felt ashamed.  She let go of the pillow, realizing what she'd done.  "How could you think that I'd EVER do that to you?" he sniffled.  Gatomon didn't answer for a while Veemon got a hold of himself.

            "I'm sorry, Veemon," she said, finally, "I was wrong.  I tricked you and hurt your feelings and I'm sorry."  Neither of them said anything for a few minutes.  Gatomon stood up out of her chair.  Veemon's eyes followed her as she put her knees between his legs.  Gatomon stared at him, right in the eye.  She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him closely.  Veemon swallowed and piped up once more, quieter than before.

            "Take your paws off me," he said, coldly.  Gatomon slowly complied, moving back.

"I deserved that," she said,    quietly, "Worse actually."

"..I didn't just come over to tell you off," he said carefully, "I also wanted to apologize.  If you kept your hands on me, you wouldn't be able to smack me."

            ".....For what?" Gatomon asked, "You were right to say all of those things."

            "Not for that," he said, ".......Gatomon, it's true that Davis told me about your plan but I knew about it long before then."

            "What??" said Gatomon, surprised.

            "That night I told Davis that I felt guilty for lying to you about being your boyfriend," said Veemon, "He told me to read something to ease my mind.  So, I picked up the first thing I found and read part of it.  That first thing was the TV guide.  There was a small summary of a soap opera episode that was being re-run where 'Barbara dumps the guy who's been annoying her by faking amnesia.'  I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier but I put two and two together.  I guess.. I guess I hoped that maybe if I let you keep pretending to like me, you might have wound up liking me for real.  I'm sorry."  He looked up at Gatomon to see how she was taking this.

Gatomon was shivering with rage.  A vein in her forehead was throbbing as she gripped her right paw into a fist.

"So, you made me put on a whole charade, thinking it would make me fall in love with you?!!"

"..That's right," he said, quietly.  Gatomon leapt to her feet and angrily grabbed Veemon by the scruff of his collar.  She jumped up on the couch, still holding him and threw him against the arm of the couch, on his back.

"YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!" she yelled, furiously.  Veemon clenched his whole mouth, waiting for the final blow.  Several seconds went by, though, and he didn't feel any pain.  Suddenly, he was wrapped by warmth.

"So this is what heaven is like," he thought, "Wow, I was expecting more angels and light and stuff.  It's actually sorta warm here..... Uh oh.  .......  No, wait a second.. I'm not deleted, I just have my eyes shut.... Then what..?"  He opened them slowly, one at a time and found Gatomon lying on top of him hugging him gently.  She turned her head and kissed him tenderly on the cheek.

"W-why'd you do that?" he asked, quietly.

".....Because you drive me crazy," she whispered softly in his ear.  Gatomon slid her paws down the side of Veemon's body and took hold of his hands.  She placed them on the small of her back and hugged him again.  Veemon smiled and nuzzled against her cheek, hugging her back.

"Gatomon," he said, quietly, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"..Mhmm," she whispered back.

"The only reason Palmon went out with me was because I wanted to show you how I was a real lady killer who you missed out on.  And the only reason she accepted was because I promised her I'd get Agumon to ask her out if she blabbed to you about how great I was.  I wanted to make you feel jealous.  I'm sorry for that."  Gatomon giggled a bit, thinking it was more cute than offensive.

"..That's okay," she said, quietly too, "Veemon?  Can I tell you a secret too?"

"..Mhmm," he whispered back.

"You know that night you were going to kiss me, but I pushed you away?  Well, I haven't stopped thinking about it since.  You know, that would have been my very first kiss and I blew it."

"Really?  What about Wizardmon, didn't he ever kiss you?"

"Wizardmon and I were friends but it never got past that point," she said, "Besides, love wasn't exactly encouraged in Myotismon's army.  Anyway, when I was on my date with Patamon, he tried to kiss me too.  I got mad and threw spaghetti in his face."  Veemon chuckled slightly, imagining Patamon with a face covered in pasta.  "I guess I've always been that way.  It's still hard for me to get close to anyone.  Kari and I bonded easily but everything else is a challenge.  That's the real reason I've always pushed you away.  No one ever showed me actual love like you did.  Everyone has always judged me by my past in one way or another.  They do a good job of downplaying it, but it's always there.  You never judged me harshly even once.  I guess I didn't know how lucky I was back then.  But Agumon was right when he said you were a digimon who brings people luck.  I feel really lucky right now."

"..Gatomon?" said Veemon.  Before she could respond, he rolled around so he was dipping her down onto the couch pillows and kissed her full on the lips.  Gatomon's chest heaved up slightly as she gasped through her nose.  As she relaxed, she brought her arms around Veemon's neck and pulled him in deeper.  Veemon held her tighter as well, his heart racing as the kiss lingered.  His eyes gradually opened and their lips reluctantly parted.

"How was it?" he asked.

"More," she replied.  Not being one to argue, Veemon complied with another kiss, his heart speeding up again once more.  Gatomon couldn't get over how it all felt, his warm body, his loving embrace,.. his lips pressed against hers.  This kiss ended soon too though.  Gatomon hugged him again, rocking back and forth slowly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"........So, does this mean we're going steady?" he asked.

"Just so long as I can call you Vee again," she whispered back.

"Deal," he said kissing her cheek.  Veemon rolled off and next to her, between the back of the couch and her back, holding her close just like he did the first time they spent the night together.

To be continued...


	6. Unmentionables Mentioned

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 6: Unmentionables Mentioned

            Candy canes decorated the glorious land of sweets.  Gummy bears danced with gingerbread men and clouds of cotton candy floated across the ice cream sky.  Veemon, having recently arrived in this magical place stared up at the biggest marshmallow in the world.  He drooled slightly as he gazed at its magnificence.  Squealing with joy, he clung onto it and began climbing.  After a little way up he latched onto it with his mouth and began his glorious feast of sugar.

            Gatomon's eyes opened as she felt something tugging at her ear.  She glanced back and saw that Veemon was apparently climbing her in his sleep and nibbling on one of her ears.  He wasn't biting hard enough for it to hurt so it only tickled.  She snickered to herself as he continued to playfully chew on the tip of her ear.

            "Maaaarrrrshmaaaaallooooowww," he mumbled.

            Back in Veemon's dream, the huge marshmallow began to shrink in size.

            "Hm??" he said, watching it shrink down to his size.  The marshmallow slowly shape-shifted into the familiar form of Gatomon.  The marshmallow Gatomon leaned up against him, petting his ears back.  Veemon sighed deeply.

            "Gaaaatoooomooooonnnn," he sighed.  Gatomon slothfully rolled over and hugged him.

            "Are you dreaming about me?" she whispered in his ear.

            The marshmallow Gatomon leaned in closely to Veemon and kissed him gently on the lips.  Not being one to receive but not give, Veemon kissed her back.

            Gatomon watched Veemon move in and kiss her in his sleep.  She smooched him back, thinking how funny he looked.

            "Mmmm.... Gatoooomooonnnn, sweet in so many ways....," mumbled Veemon.

            "Thank you!" she said, startling him awake.

            "Wah!!" he yelped, shocked.  Gatomon snickered.

            "You were dreaming," she said, tapping his nose, "It was very cute."

            "Ewww...You've got morning breath," said Veemon, smiling.

            "Blegh.. so do you," she retorted, still smirking.

            "But hhhhhhhhhow can you be sure?" he asked, breathing all over her.

            "Gaaahhhh!" she said, and fell off of the couch, feigning death.  Her legs stuck straight up and she draped her tongue out of her mouth.

            "Gatooooooo!" said Veemon, like Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire.  He jumped down next to her, holding her left front paw in his hands.  "No!  What have I done?  Is there nothing I can do to bring you back? ... Oh wait, I know."  He grabbed her by the waist and raspberried her tummy.  Gatomon broke out into hysterics, holding onto his head.

            "Sto-hop hi-i-i-t!" she laughed out.

            "Haleluya!  I ayam a mirical workah!" he said, raising his hands and sounding like an Evangelical priest.

            "Oh yeah, I bet you're ticklish too!" she said, grabbing one of his feet.

            "Wah!" he yelped, falling on his back.  Her tail whipped out and tickled the bottom of his foot making him squeal.

            "EEheeheeheeheehee," he giggled, flailing around.  Gatomon's eyes opened wide as she stopped tickling him and covered his mouth.

            "I forgot, Kari doesn't know I got rid of Patamon," said Gatomon.

            "Wfmtr mpht?" asked Veemon.

            "What??" she said, removing her paw.

            "I said, 'What's the matter with that?'  Just tell her."

            "Mmm.. you don't know Kari like I do, Veemon."

            "Oh I get it..  You're ashamed of me."

            "No no, it's not that.  See, Kari told me that I was just denying my feelings for you back when I was tricking you.  I told her she was wrong and, well, obviously she wasn't.  See Kari kinda gets this little attitude when she knows she's right that really rubs my fur the wrong way.  Just do me a favor, let's not tell her quite yet, okay?"

            "Okay.." said Veemon, not liking it very much.

            "Don't be so blue, I'll tell her eventually."

            "I can't help being blue," he said, smiling.

            "What about that smell?" she asked, holding her nose, "You still smell like noodles and pork."  Veemon sniffed one of his arms and made a face.

            "Heh, I guess so.  Well, I'll go home and take a bath," he said, getting up.

            "Just a minute," said Gatomon, her tail wrapping around his waist as he headed in the direction of the door.

            "Hm?"

            "I think there's something we should do first," she said, standing up as he turned to face her, "You know, something to culminate our new relationship?"

            "Oh?  Hmmmm....  Is it HOT?" he asked, stepping a bit closer.

            "Mhmmmm," she said, a slight purr in her voice.

            "Is it DIRTY?" he asked, stepping closer still.

            "Oh, there is DEFinitely dirt involved," she said, suggestively winking.

            "Is it STEAMY?" he asked pressing against her.

            "Oh yessssss," she replied, pressing back.

            ".........You're gonna make me take a bath HERE, huh?" he asked, finally getting it.

            "Yup."

            A big cluster of bubbles with two eyes sat in the bath tub.  Gatomon had her hands buried in it, rubbing Veemon's concealed head.

            "This isn't so bad, is it?" she asked.

            "What is this stuff?" he asked.

            "Cherry scented bath soap," said Gatomon.

            "..I'm gonna smell like cherries?"

            "All the soap in the world couldn't make you smell like cherries.  This should just cancel out the smell."

            "There's one thing it can't get rid of!" he said, melodramatically, "A lonely heart!  If only.. if only there was someone who could take this bath with me.  Oh boo hoo!"  Gatomon looked at him, deadpan.  He looked back at her, not seeing her move.  He gave her a big smile and batted his eyes only to be sprayed with the shower massager.

            "Simmer down, stinky," she giggled.  Veemon wrapped his arms around himself.

            "C-c-cold!" he said, shivering.

            "I'll go find you a fresh towel," she said, walking away.

            "H-h-h-hurry!  Wachooo!!"

            As Gatomon walked away from the closed door, Kari tiptoed around the corner towards the bathroom.  She was holding something in her arms but it was too dark to make out what it was.

            Gatomon was in the laundry room, finding a towel for Veemon.

            "How should I break this to Kari?  Maybe I could tell her I just felt bad for him..  She might buy that.  ..  Maybe I should just tell her.  I mean, who cares if she gloats a bit?  You know what?  That's exactly what I'll do," she said to herself, smiling proudly.

            "Ahhhhh!!!!!!!" yelled Kari from the bathroom.

            "Kari!" yelled Gatomon, running from the laundry room in a panic.  When she made it to the living room, she didn't see anyone attacking Kari, but instead, Veemon racing out of the bathroom with his hands covering his eyes.

            "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!"  he said, running past Gatomon, "Call you later, Gats!!"  That done, he zipped out the front door and slammed it behind him.

            ".....What just happened?" Gatomon asked herself.

******At the Motomiya residence******

            Davis was fast asleep, curled up in his blankets and cooing to himself.

            "I'm the greatest there be.  I fly like a rock and I sting like a phone," he mumbled.

            "Davis!!" yelled Veemon, rushing in.

            "Waah!!!" yelled, Davis, "I'm up!  I'm up!  What is it?  What happened?"

            "Davis, I really messed up big time!" said Veemon.

            "Dude, you woke me up at six thirty in the morning.  You don't have a CLUE how badly you just messed up."

            "Not about that!  I... I... saw Kari.."

            "..What's the big deal?  You've seen Kari before."

            "Uhh.. Not like I recently did.."

            "What do you mean?" asked Davis.

******At the Kamiya's******

            Kari was wrapped up in a bathrobe, sitting on the floor of the bathroom with Gatomon.

            "You're SURE no one's going to come rushing in?" asked Kari.

            "I'm positive," said Gatomon, "I told everyone that you were okay and they all went back to sleep."

            "Thanks."

            "Look, I'm really sorry.  I had no idea you were going to take a shower right then and there.  You usually go after Tai which is around ten in the morning."

            "Well, I wasn't exactly in here to take a shower, Gatomon," said Kari, sheepishly.

            "..Then why were you naked?"  Kari sighed and pulled a cucumber out from her robe.

            "You woke up at six thirty to run into the bathroom to eat vegetables?  Is this some weird human holiday?"

            "Oh, this is so embarrassing...  Look, Gatomon, you have to promise me that what I'm about to tell you never leaves this room, okay?"

            "Alright."

            "Okay, see I was having this really.. um.. abnormal dream.  In it, T.K. and me had been going steady for a while and we.. well we decided maybe it would be fun to fool around, you know?"

            "Uh huh."

            "Right, so he tells me that he heard it hurts the girl the first time.  I said I wasn't scared.  Anyway, we get started and it turns out I'm completely wrong.  It hurts like crazy and I bleed all over him and the bed.  He gets all freaked out and runs away and then I woke up.  Well, I thought, 'What if that really happens??'  So I figured I'd just.. well.. take care of that little dilemma myself.  Well, I guess you know the rest."

            "Oh no.  And Veemon was in here."

            "Yep.  He saw me....."

******In Davis's Room******

            ".....completely naked," finished a frantic Veemon.  Davis's jaw, if it could be unhinged, would have touched the floor.

            "W-w-w-w-w-wahh???  Are you sure??"

            "Yeah and.."

            "Are you telling me that you saw Kari, the girl I've spent over a year just trying to get to go out with me on one lousy date, completely and totally naked?!!!" yelled Davis, ready to strangle Veemon.

            "Well, sorta," said Veemon.

            "How is that a sorta??!"

            "I actually saw.. a bit more."

******In the Kamiya's Bathroom******

            "Look, don't be embarrassed, Kari," said Gatomon, "Trust me on this, I know Veemon and if I'm right, he barely knows what he saw."

            "What are you talking about?  He's not blind!" said Kari, upset.

            "Well, Veemon isn't exactly, shall we say, educated in female anatomy.  Chances are all he saw was a big blur of peach as you screamed and the doorknob as he fumbled for it to get out.  I'll bet he didn't even know what you were doing.  In fact, he's probably just as ashamed and flustered as you."

            "Really?" asked Kari, hopefully.

            "Really."

******Back with Davis and Veemon******

            Davis was no longer trying to strangle Veemon, but was once again in a state of shock.

            "I'm guessing she was trying to break her own hymen," said Veemon, "I didn't know it at the time, though.  All I saw was that she was trying to come into the bathroom, so I hid behind the shower curtain.  I just hoped she wasn't going to get in.  Then I heard her taking off her clothes and lying down.  After a bit, she yelped kinda loudly.  I just thought she was hurt!  I swear!  I figured that hiding wasn't as important as making sure she was okay.  And then.. well... you know."

            "Habidah woobubidah biba wabababa.." beebled Davis.

            "Davis?  Davis??" said Veemon, "Snap out of it!!  I need your help!!!"

            "I-I-I'm sorry, I just ... wow.  But..what does this have to do with you?"

            "Do the math!  What if she won't let me see Gatomon because she thinks I did it on purpose?!  *gasp*  Even worse, I left without explaining to Gatomon what happened!  What if SHE thinks I did it on purpose too??!"

            "........"

            "Davis!!"

            "Oh, sorry, I'm still stuck on the whole Kari/cucumber thing."

            "......Why do I always come to you for advice?" asked Veemon, just realizing how much time he wasted, "Maybe Jun will know what to do.."

            "No!  No, listen.  You shouldn't tell anyone else about this.  Kari's probably really embarrassed as it is.  I have a feeling she probably doesn't want me to know either.  Don't tell her I know, alright?  Now second of all, the best thing you can do is this: deny, deny, deny.  Tell her you didn't see anything at all because.. I dunno, you were blinded by the light.  You just heard her scream, figured you'd done something wrong, and ran out.  Got it?  If Gatomon thinks you did it on purpose, tell her the same thing.  There.  Problem solved."

            "......I don't believe it.  You actually helped me out!  Thanks, Davis!" said Veemon, relieved... as well as a bit bewildered.

******With Kari and Gatomon******

            "There's one thing that still bothers me, Gatomon.  Why was Veemon even here?" asked Kari.

            "OH!.. uhhh Well, I made a waiter dump soup on him at the restaurant and he got mad at me so he came over here and yelled at me.  Then we made up and I let him spend the night.  He still smelled like food, so I had him take a bath," Gatomon said, half-truthfully.

            "But, that's all, right?  I mean, you're not dating him, are you?"

            "Veemon??  No!  No, not at all," Gatomon flat out lied, "We're just back to being friends.  I'm uhh dating Patamon.  I dumped Veemon, remember?"

            "Well, that is ONE little glimmer of hope.  Because if there's anyone I never, ever, EVER want to see over in this house or hanging around you again, it's Veemon."

            "Heh, yeah, lucky how things turned out, huh?" said Gatomon, sheepishly.

To Be Continued...


	7. Lies and Love are Lethal

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 7: Lies and Love are Lethal

            Tai was lying on his bed, reading a comic book.

"No!  Look out for that cliff, Captain Groovy!!" he yelled, reading the comic book that Davis had lent him.  He turned the page with a nervous hand, taking a deep breath.  His eyes darted up and down the paper until he hit a certain frame.  Tai released the air from his lungs with relief.  "Thank God his bellbottoms double as parachutes."

Just then, a digital gate opened up on his PC.  Tai put down the book and looked over at his computer to see Agumon pop out.

"Agumon, Dude, it's past eight in the morning, where have you been??"

"I was sleeping over at Palmon's," yawned Agumon.

"Then why do you look so exhausted?"

"Well, it's daytime over there, remember?" said Agumon, hopping up onto the bed with Tai.  "Besides," he said, leaning over to Tai's ear, "We couldn't exactly have gotten much sleep with the things we were doing!"  Tai looked at Agumon with a confused look on his face.

"What are you talking about??"

"Hee hee!  She even got Mimi to digivolve her to Lillymon before leaving us alone!"

"...No way..  you mean...?"

"There's not a single flat surface that's still sacred in the Takichawa household," he said, snickering.

"......Oh my GOD!" Tai said, blown away, "Oh my God!" Tai said, impressed, "Oh my GOD!" he said again, not realizing digimon were capable of such things.  "Oh my God," he said, dumbstruck as he got off of the bed and headed for the door.  Gatomon walked in just then, hoping that Agumon had come back.  "Oh my GOD!  Ugh!" Tai said, feeling sickly as he ran out of the room.  Gatomon stared at Tai as he ran into the bathroom.  She shrugged and closed the door behind her.

"Welcome back Agumon," she said, "Mind telling me what that was all about?"  Agumon was in stitches as he struggled to keep his laughter in.

"Well, I kinda told a little fib to Tai," he said.

"Why, what was it?" she asked.  Agumon motioned her closer with his claws, giggling.  She leaned in and he whispered something in her ear before breaking into hysterics.

"Gaahahahaha!" he laughed.

"Agumon!  That's a horrible thing to tell Tai!"

"I know, I'm just sleep-deprived and punchy," he said, smiling stupidly.

"But, really," she said, folding her arms, "How do you think that would make Palmon feel, you tarnishing her image like that?"

"Well, since all we really did was drink cocoa and talk, I was kinda hoping maybe he'd spread that little rumor around.  You know, maybe if word got back around to her..well, she'd know what I wanted," he said, grinning.

"Ugh.  Mon; you're all alike," she said giving up.

"He he, yup!" he said, happily, "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Oh, wait!" she said, "I want to ask for some advice.. although God knows why...."

"Advice?  From me??  The dirty-minded digimon???"

"Can it, would ya?" she said, glaring at him.

"Okay okay, what do you need?"

"Well...," said Gatomon.

******A few minutes later******

            "...And that's the whole story," said Gatomon.

            "Hmm..  I see.  So you're worried that Kari will find out that you're dating Veemon and not Patamon, huh?  Well no biggie, just don't have him come over here.  How can she know where you're really going to be if you just tell her that you're gonna go to Patamon's house for dinner and then really go to Veemon's?"

            "Good point.  Wow, that really makes things a lot easier," she said, "Thanks Agumon, now I don't need to tell Veemon about Kari forbidding us to go out!"

            "Actually, you might want to try something different," said Agumon, "Tell Veemon that Kari forgives him and that she's fine with you two going out.  Kari's a pretty level-headed girl.  I'm certain that she'll forgive him eventually anyway."

            "Perfect.  So the plan is I tell Veemon he's forgiven and don't let him come over until Kari's actually forgiven him.  No problem!"

            "Yup...... now then, for my payment."

            "Huh?  Payment?"

            "Yeah, I want to know what Veemon did to Kari to embarrass her," he said grinning devilishly.

            "Sorry, Agumon, like I said, I'm not telling," she said, firmly.

            "Fine fine..  Just don't blame me if certain PLANS slip out of my little mouth."

            "Oh you'd BETTER not be blackmailing me," she said, glaring at him.

            "Maaaaaaybe I am.  Maaaaaaaybe I'm not," he said, slyly, "I'm just saying..."  Gatomon grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against a wall.  Agumon's eyes bugged out and rolled around as he gasped for air.

            "How about this?  How about you don't say a word and I promise not to perform what I like to call the three-second circumcision; got it?"

            "Got it!" he gasped out.

            "Good," she said letting him go.

            "Yeesh!" he said, taking in big gulps of air, "I was only kidding around!"

"Yeah, well you sure could have fooled me," she said, not finding it funny in the least.

"Heh.. heh.. hey, you know what they say happens when a guy gets strangled," he said, raising and lowing his eyebrows.

"....Oh GEEZ!  You're disgusting!" she said, walking away and closing the door behind her.

"And he hits another one outta the park!" Agumon laughed as he climbed back into bed, "MAN I'm punchy.  ZZzzzzz..."

******Later******

            Gatomon was pacing by the phone in the Kamiya's hallway, thinking hard.

            "Okay," she said aloud, "So the plan is, call him, let him know he's forgiven, set up a date, make sure I'm going to his house, and hang up."  That affirmed, she picked up the phone and punched in his number.  After a few rings...

            "Hello?" Davis answered.

            "Davis?  This is Gatomon; is Veemon there?" she asked.

            "Hang on, I'll get him.  Hey, Veemon!" he shouted away from the receiver.  There was some fumbling as Davis handed the phone to Veemon.

            "Gatomon?  I can explain everything!!" he said, frantically.

            "It's okay, Vee, I forgive you!"

            "I.. huh?  You do?" he asked.

            "Yeah, I talked with Kari and I understand completely," she said, calmly.

            "Kari told you.. everything?" he asked.

            "That's right," she said.

            ".....And you're still not mad??" he asked, a bit more confused than relieved.

            "Of course not," she said, sweetly, "I was calling to find out if you'd like to have dinner tonight."

            "Really?  Okay, sure!  How about Moriali's?" he suggested.  As he suggested it, however, Kari walked in and asked Gatomon, "Who're you talking to, Gatomon?"

            "Sounds great, Vuhhhh.. Puhhh... Sounds great!" she said, improvising badly.

            "Everything okay over there, Gats?" Veemon asked.

            "Gatomon, who are you talking to?" asked Kari, getting a bit more suspicious.

            "I'm talking to Patamon," said Gatomon, her paw covering up the receiver, "I almost called him ..... the v-word by mistake."

            "Oh, sorry," said Kari, "I didn't mean to distract you.  Can I use the phone when you're done?"

            "So, should I pick you up around nine?" Veemon asked.

            "Sure thing," said Gatomon, overly-nicely to Kari, indicating that she should leave.  Kari took the hint and walked out.

            "Okay, see ya then!" said Veemon, hanging up.

            "Buh bye," said Gatomon into the receiver.  She hung it up and breathed a sigh of relief.  "So, let's see, he's gonna be here at nine so that gives me plenty of time to get all ready for......... he's coming HERE??!!!!"

            "Is Patamon coming over to pick you up, Gatomon?" asked Kari, returning.

            "Uhhhh.. yes," lied Gatomon.

            "Oh perfect," said Kari, "Make sure he comes in, okay?  There's something I have to talk to him about."

            "Uh well.. uhhh.. you see, Patamon and I were really just planning on heading off to dinner.  In fact, he might not even come into the apartment.  In fact, he might not come to the door at all.  In FACT he might just be waiting downstairs for me, okay?"

            "Well, I really need to talk to him," said Kari, "Please?  It's important."

            "........Okay," Gatomon said, giving up.

            "Thanks," said Kari, "You're a real pal."  Kari picked up the phone as Gatomon ran away into Mrs. Kamiya's room, worried as heck.  She grabbed the phone in there and furiously dialed in another number.  After a few rings...

            "Hello?" Patamon answered.

            "Patamon?  It's Gatomon!  I need you!  I want you!  I can't live without you!  Be here tonight at 8:30PM!  Don't be late!  Uhh.. Because I need you!!!" she yelled and slammed the phone down.  After a few moments, she closed her mouth in a whimper and put her face in her paws.

******Later that night******

            It was 8:50 and Gatomon was standing by the door, she looked clean and prettied up, but inside she was sweating bullets.

            "Okay," she said to herself, quietly, "If he was here at 8:30, I could have had him come in here, talk to Kari, and then found some way to get rid of him.  NOW it looks like I'll have to move on to plan B:  Show Kari he's here, get her to leave, and then get HIM to leave."  Just then, the doorbell wrung.  Gatomon flung the door open to see Patamon standing there.

            "Sorry I'm late," he said, holding some flowers, "I couldn't remember which was your favorite type but then I realized you never TOLD me what your..." he babbled.

            "Gatomon, is that Patamon?" asked Kari, walking towards them from around a corner.  Gatomon quickly knocked the flowers out of Patamon's hand and dipped him, kissing him on the lips just as Kari walked in.

            "Oh!" said Kari, not expecting this.

            "Kari!  A little privacy, please?" asked Gatomon, pretending to be miffed.

            "Sorry," said Kari, zipping away.

            "I.. uh.. well wow," said Patamon as Gatomon stood him back up, "I really wasn't expecting anything like that so soon."

            "Uh heh, well, you know me, I'm just..," said Gatomon as the doorbell wrung again, "Spontaneous!" she yelled, opening up the hall closet door, chucking Patamon in, and slamming it shut.  She opened up the front door quickly.  Veemon was standing there, all ready for their date.  She was about to say something when Kari piped up, coming back..

            "Gatomon, what's with the door-slamming?" she said, about to round the corner again.

            "Ow!" yelled Veemon as Gatomon slammed the door in his face.

            "Oh sorry," she said, nervously opening up the closet to let Patamon out, "I accidentally pushed Patamon into the closet."

            "Oooookay," said Kari, walking away, thinking how weird Gatomon was behaving.  Patamon stumbled out of the closet, a bit dazed.

            "Well.. that was new," he commented, holding his head.  Suddenly, Veemon knocked on the door.

            "Instant replay!" she yelled, kicking Patamon back into the closet.

            "OW!" he yelped as she slammed the closet door and opened up the front door.  Before Veemon could say anything, she zipped up against him, pushing him back, while she closed the door behind her.

            "Uh, hiya!" she said, very nervously, "Are you about read..?" she started to ask when she heard the closet door opening, "Look, it's Leann Rimes!!" she yelled, pointing at nothing behind him.

            "Huh?" said Veemon turning around.  Gatomon zipped back inside and slammed the door behind her again.

            "That does it!" yelled Mrs. Kamiya from right around where Kari was.  Gatomon grabbed Patamon and leapt all the way to the couch.  She climbed on top of him and kissed him hard on the lips.  "What's with all this commoti- Oh!" she said, seeing Gatomon and Patamon.

            "Eeek!" said Gatomon, feigning embarrassment.  Mrs. Kamiya left quickly, red-cheeked.

            "This date keeps getting weirder and weird..," said Patamon.  Before he could finish his sentence, the front door began to open.  Veemon obviously wanted some answers.  Gatomon grabbed Patamon by one of his ears and flung him out the nearby window.

            "WaaahhhH!!!" he yelled, sailing out of the apartment.  Gatomon dashed over to the door and opened it wide.

            "I'm REALLY sorry about all this, Vee," she said, trying to sound merely flustered.

            "Uhh... That's o...kay?" said Veemon, peering behind her, "Gatomon, what's that??"  He was pointing at Patamon's hands which were desperately clinging to the window sill as he tried to pull himself back in.  Gatomon grabbed Veemon's shoulders, spun him around, and kicked him in the butt, knocking him up, head-over-heals out the door.

"Help m-!" he yelled as she closed the door just in time to see his hands grab the railing as he flipped over it, dangling there.  Gatomon turned her attention back to Patamon who had finished climbing back in.  He was flying around the room like a blind moth, his eyes cross and his head hurting.  She ran over to him and grabbed a big pillow off of the couch.

"Hold this!" she yelled, slamming the pillow into Patamon, smashing him between the couch and the other side of the pillow.

"MMmmpphhh!!" yelled Patamon as he struggled behind the pillow.  Gatomon looked left, then right, freaked out, and ran out of the room, closing the front door behind her.

Outside, Gatomon looked down at Veemon dangling from the rails.

".....Um.. you uh.. are you ready for our date?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"Gatomon, is there something you're not telling me?" he asked, deadpan.

To be continued...


	8. Betrayal at the Krondor

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 8: Betrayal at the Krondor

            Mrs. Kamiya sighed deeply as she headed towards the couch with her favorite book, 'The Adolescent and the Fidgety.'

            "If anything can get rid of my throbbing headache, it's this book," she said, clutching it lovingly to her bosom, "I have to talk to Kari about her digimon slamming doors like that."  Mrs. Kamiya's eyes bugged out as she stared at the couch.  From behind a pillow, Patamon's ears were sticking out and twitching.  "AHHHH!!!!!!" she yelled, grabbing a broom.  "Kill it!  Kill it!  Kill it!!!" she screeched, smashing the crap out of the pillow with the end of the broom.

            "Mom, what's wrong??" said Kari, rushing back into the living room.  Her mother was still shaking and pointing at the pillow/ears.  Kari quickly realized what her mother had just beaten up.  "Oh no!  Patamon!" she yelled, rushing over to the pillow.

            "Patamon?" her mother said, confused.  Kari pulled the pillow away to reveal Patamon looking less than well.  His eyes were rolling around in their sockets and his tongue dangled lifelessly from his open mouth.  "Oh my!  Kari I'm so sorry!  I thought he was a bat or something."

            "That's okay, Mom," said Kari, picking Patamon up, "He's just here to take Gatomon out on a date."

            "Dates taste like candied yam," mumbled Patamon.

            "But where's Gatomon then?" her mom asked.

            "Probably in the bathroom or something," said Kari, taking Patamon to her room. "C'mon, Patamon, let's get you fixed up."

            "Uh.. I'm really sorry!!" yelled Mrs. Kamiya.

            Kari closed the door behind her and sat down on her bed with Patamon.  He was starting to recover a bit from the beating he took earlier.

            "What's going on?" he asked.

            "You're in my room," said Kari.  "Are you okay?"

            "I think so," he said, rubbing his head.

            "Good," said Kari, "Because I need to talk to you about something."

            "Um.. okay," he said, looking up at her, "What's up?"  Kari took a deep breath and sat down next to him.

            "Well, early this morning, Veemon was over and he caught me in an embarrassing situation.  I don't know if he's told Davis about it or not but one thing I REALLY don't want to happen is for T.K. to find out too, okay?"

            "Uh huh..," said Patamon, not really getting it, "What happened?"

            "That's not what matters here!" she yelled.  Patamon slinked back.  "Sorry, sorry.  Look, I just want you to prevent T.K. from hearing about it, alright?"

            "Well, I will, but how can I do that if I don't know what I'm trying to prevent him from hearing?" asked Patamon.

            Kari opened her mouth to object but closed it slowly.  She knew he was right.  She sighed deeply and recounted the tale.  Patamon's eyes opened wider and wider as it went on.

            "So that's what happened," she finished, "Now do you see why I don't want T.K. to know about it?"  Patamon's face remained unchanged from its shocked look as he nodded.  "The worst part is that it went a bit further than that."

            "How could it get further than THAT??" asked Patamon, doubly shocked.

            "Well...," said Kari, recounting a part of the story that she didn't even tell Gatomon.  Once she was through describing it, Patamon no longer looked shocked.  He had a slight smirk on his face and a wicked look in his eyes.

            "Well, no problem, Kari," said Patamon, "I know JUST how to fix things.  Where did Gatomon say we were going out?"

            "To the Krondor..... wait why didn't you know that?"

            "C'mon, who do you think she's REALLY there with?" he asked.

            "....... Why that little liar!!  She's with Veemon?!"

            "I wouldn't be surprised.  Having me come over was probably just a cover-up."

            "I see.  Okay, then, do me TWO favors....." said Kari, looking equally wicked.

******At Davis's Place******

            Approximately two hours had passed since Patamon and Kari had their discussion.  Davis was in his room getting all jazzed up.

"Oh my darling, knock three times on the ceiling if you want me.  Twice on the pipe, if the answer is 'no.' Oh my sweetness...," he sang as he put on a tie to go along with the rest of his ensemble.

"Davis!!  How many times do I have to tell you not to throw out perfectly good vegetables?!" Davis's mom yelled.

"Wasn't me!" yelled Davis.  Just then, Veemon slowly opened the door and sulked his way over to the bed.

"Yo!  Veemon, what's up?" said Davis, not really noticing the way his friend was walking.  Veemon silently crawled into bed and pulled the covers over his head.  "Veemon?" asked Davis looking over at the bed.  He walked towards the lump in the covers and tapped it.  "Hey dude, what's the matter?"  Veemon just sniffled a bit from the covers.  Davis pulled them down a bit.  "Veemon?  Are you okay?"  Veemon's eyes were wet with tears.

"She *sniff* she found out the rest of the shtory, Davish," he sniffled.

"Huh?  The rest of what?  What's going on?" he asked.

"I didn't tell you the whole story, Davish," Veemon sobbed, "I did more than jusht looking at her."

"......Wha?" said Davis still not getting it.  Davis picked Veemon up, out of the covers and sat him on the bed.  "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Well....." said Veemon as he began to recount what took place earlier that night.

******9:20PM******

            Gatomon and Veemon were sitting at a nice table in the corner of the Krondor, a pizza place in downtown Shinjuku.

            "This was a great place to come, Veemon," said Gatomon, admiring the fun interior of the Chuck-E.-Cheese-like joint.

            "Hey, what's better than eating pizza and playing games?" said Veemon, smiling, "So.. now that we're here, you mind telling me what all that was about back at your place?"

            "Oh, you know, this and that," said Gatomon, a bit nervously.

            "Oh, I get it, I have to MAKE ya talk, ay?" said Veemon, sliding beneath the table.

            "What?  No!!!  HAHAHAHAHA!!!" she laughed as he tickled the heck out of her feet.  "Stop it stop it stop it!  I give!!" she laughed, flailing all over the place.  Veemon popped up beside her and cuddled up like a puppy.

            "Then you'll tell me?" he asked, batting his eyes and grinning like a fox.

            "Uhh.. yeah sure," she said, looking around for a way out of the tight situation.  She had avoided the subject all the way to the restaurant but now it seemed she had no choice.  

_Oh well, what's the worst that could happen? she thought, __I'm sure he'll understand._

"Why don't you let me in on it?" said Patamon, from another table behind them.  Gatomon and Veemon stood straight up and peered behind them.  Patamon was resting his head in one paw and tapping his other one on the cushion that separated their booths.  "How's it going, guys?" he asked.

"..Fine," said Gatomon, guiltily.

"..Fine," said Veemon, wondering why the heck Patamon was there.

"Oh good, good," said Patamon, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to butt in like that.  I just couldn't help overhearing your conversation and I figured maybe I could help you out there."

"NO!  I mean, that's okay, no thanks," said Gatomon, shaking like a chiwawa in winter.

"Oh?  Well, then, maybe I could help you guys out with a secret of Veemon's?" he said, obviously holding all the cards.

"...... *gasp!* NO!  That's just fine, thanks," said Veemon, realizing what Patamon must have somehow figured out.  Gatomon looked at Veemon quizzically.

"What's wrong?" she asked, momentarily forgetting her own guilt.

"...Wanna go somewhere else to eat??" he blurted out.

"Oh don't do that," said Patamon, snidely, "I'm sure your food's almost ready."

"Uhhhhh," said Veemon that option now lost.

"Oh I get it!" said Patamon, "You don't want Gatomon to find out from me what REALLY happened that night with Kari.  Isn't that right, Veemon?"

"Uhh uhba... uhbababuauua," Veemon mumbled, glancing nervously back and forth between Patamon and Gatomon.  Patamon, still smirking, hopped over the divider and landed between them.  He put his wings around both of them.

"Now then, why don't we all have a seat and tell each other all about our interesting day, shall we?"  Gatomon and Veemon, both knowing someone was going to be in trouble, sat down with Patamon.  "Now then, let's roll back the clock to earlier this morning."

"Patamon, don't you have somewhere you need to be right now?" Veemon asked, still looking for a way out.

"Oh, but I'm sure Gatomon would just LOVE to hear about how you molested Kari in the bathroom," said Patamon.

"What?????" said Gatomon, standing up on the seat cushion.

"That's right, Gats," said Patamon to her, "You're steady boyfriend did more than Kari told you he did.  After he saw Kari, he climbed on top of her and tried to, well, take the cucumbers place if you know what I mean."

"WHAT???!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Gatomon, startling everyone in the restaurant.  All eyes turned to look at Veemon who had slouched down and was babbling incoherently, sweating like a pig in a tanning salon.

"I-I-I-I  It's not true, I swear!" he said, clutching his hands over his face, lest she deck him out of the seat.  Gatomon was FUMING.  Her paws were clutched into fists so tightly you could practically hear the bones cracking.  She looked like a stick of dynamite ready to blow as she clenched her teeth and snorted violently through her nose.  Veemon crouched into as small a ball as he could.  Suddenly, Gatomon's fury and rage disappeared.  She had found a much more painful punishment for Veemon.

"Patamon?" she asked, slowly, "How would you like to take me out?  I believe I'm done here."

"I'd be happy to," said Patamon, taking her Paw.  They walked across the table top together and hopped down onto the floor.

"C'mon," she said, "I know of a MUCH nicer restaurant to go to than this tasteless dump."

"Sounds good to me," said Patamon as they strolled out.  Everyone in the restaurant paused and applauded.

"Wow, those new toys are really good actors!" mentioned one guy.  Veemon, still frowning, took a nonchalant bow and sat back down, face in hands.

******Back at the Motomiya's (present time)******

            Davis seemed even angrier than Gatomon had been.

            "You did WHAT to Kari??!!!!" he yelled.

            "*SNIFF* Nothing!!" sobbed Veemon, "Patamon lied.  I wash caught off guard.  I didn't know what to shay.  I can't prove anything to Gatomon and now.. and NOW!  Ohhhhh..."  He started sobbing again as the rest of his sentence turned to mush.

            "Hey, hey..... Hey Veemon, it's okay," said Davis, patting his back, "Look this is totally simple."

            "What'sh that shupposed to mean??" Veemon cried.

            "It's easy.  Look, Kari forgave you already, so all you have to do is tell her about Patamon's lie and she'll tell Gatomon the truth.  Gatomon will definitely believe it coming from Kari.  She'll see Patamon lied, dump him, and go back to you.  See?"  Veemon's crying died down.

            "Wow Davis," he said, drying his eyes, "That's two times in one week."

            "Two times for what?"

            "Two times you gave me good advice," said Veemon, winking.

            "Hey!  My advice is always good!"

            "..Yeah, it is," said Veemon, humoring him.

            "One thing still bothers me though," he said, going back to the mirror to straighten his tie.  "Most guys would jump right back and call Patamon a liar in a situation like that.  Why didn't you?"

            "Well, like I said, I was caught off guard...... also, part of his story was true."  Davis stopped tying his tie and slowly turned to look at Veemon.

            "Exactly WHAT part of it was true?" asked Davis.

            "Well...," said Veemon as he began to recount.

******Early that morning******

            Veemon was in the bath playing with a rubber ducky while Gatomon had gone off to get him a towel.

            "Rarh!!  You are mine, Doom Duck!  Vee head-butt!" said Veemon, smacking the duck with his head, missing it, and banging it through the water into the bottom of the tub.  He sat up holding his head until the wringing stopped.  Suddenly, he became aware of footsteps coming towards the door.  They were too heavy to be Gatomon's so he quickly drew the shower curtain.  Just as he thought, the door opened up and a taller figure walked in.

            "Oh no!" he thought, "That's probably Tai!  What if he tries to take a shower?!  If he catches me and tells Kari, Gatomon will be mad!"  Veemon listened closely and indeed heard the sound of clothes being stripped.  A feminine creature took a deep breath and released it.  "Uh oh.  Worse than that, it's Kari herself!"  He covered his eyes and prepared for the inevitable scream when she would pull open the curtains.  A few seconds went by and it didn't come, though.  Carefully, he peered between the wall and the curtain.  His jaw opened as he saw Kari about to.. take herself with the cucumber she had taken from the fridge.

            _Oh my GOD! Veemon thought, __Look at the size of that gash!!  She needs medical attention right away!!!_

            "Kari, don't move!" he shouted, leaping out from behind the shower curtain.

            "WAAAHHH!!!!!!" yelled, Kari, scrambling to cover herself up.  Veemon zipped over to the counter and grabbed some band-aids and some first aid cream.  "Oh man, it's really bad!" he said, pulling the cucumber out.  Kari screamed again and covered herself up.

            "No no no!!!" she yelled, banging him on the head over and over with her fists.

            "Kari, this needs to be treated!" he yelled, rubbing the cream all over her ... her.

            "THAT'S NOT A CUT, YOU MORON!!!!" she yelled, gripping his ears and staring him straight in the eye.

            "...... But.........oh.  OH!  Uhhhhh!!! .. Uh oh," he said, his fingers still where they were and the cucumber still in his other hand.

            "GET OUT RIGHT NOW!!!!" she yelled.

Veemon raced out of the bathroom with his hands covering his eyes.

            "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!"  he said, running past Gatomon, who had just come back with a towel, "Call you later, Gats!!"  That said, he zipped out the front door and slammed it behind him, taking the cucumber with him.

******In Davis's Room (present time)******

            Davis stared at Veemon, shocked.

            "You thought she was cut???" he asked, incredulously.

            "Well, how was I supposed to know humans have... well... you know, private parts?" asked Veemon.

            "Why do you think we wear clothes?!" asked Davis.

            "I dunno, I thought you just got cold easily or something," said Veemon.  "So, anyway, that's when I came home, dumped the cucumber in the trash and told you what happened.  I didn't want to tell you the whole thing because I was worried you'd kill me."

            "...... Wow, I don't know whether to beat you up or ask you what it was like."

            "I'd prefer the second one any day," said Veemon, backing away, "..Um.. so, wanna tell me why you're getting all snazzed up?"

            "Huh?  Oh yeah!  Guess who's got a date with Kari?" he said, already forgetting about Veemon's situation.

            ".....No way," said Veemon, "How'd you get her to say yes?"

            "..Well.. I haven't actually asked her yet," said Davis, going back to straightening his tie in the mirror.

            "Huh?  How does that work?" asked Veemon.

            "Easy see I'm sorta gonna blackmail her into going out with me."

            "You're gonna what???" Veemon yelled, hopping onto the floor.

            "Well, maybe blackmail is too strong a word.  More like.. greymail.  See, I'm going to casually let her know that I found out about her cucumber thing and then ask her out on a date.  She'll definitely go out with me if she knows I know her secret, see?  It's not like I'm actually gonna SAY, 'Kari if you don't go out with me I'll tell everyone your dirty secret.'"

            "Davis, that's low!" said Veemon.

            "Maybe so but...... wait, did you say you threw the cucumber in the garbage here??"

            "Um yeah," said Veemon.

            "MOM!!  Don't throw out that cucumber!!!!" yelled Davis, running out of his room.  Veemon put his hand to his face and sighed deeply.

To be continued...


	9. Venom of a Lizard

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 9: Venom of a Lizard

            Agumon and Tai were in his room playing video games.  Tai barely seemed to be playing; his eyes were crusty with sleep and baggy beneath them from lack thereof.  Agumon stared up at Tai after crushing his fighter flawlessly.

            "Tai?  Are you okay?" he asked.

            "Oh my God," said Tai, as if to say, "I just realized that Agumon's getting more than I am."

            "Tai??"

            "Oh my God," he repeated, this time as if to say, "I can't believe I've lost so much sleep over my digimon doing adult activities with Lillymon."  A beat.  "OH MY GOD!" he said, as if to say, "Oh jeez!  There I go again!"

            "You know, Tai," said Agumon, figuring it out, "I was just kidding about the whole Lillymon and me thing."  Tai's face crinkled up.

            "Huh??  You what???"

            "I lied.  I was sleepy.  Can we play for real now?" Agumon asked.

            "You kept me awake for over 24 hours because of that stupid lie!!" yelled Tai, gripping Agumon by the neck.

            "Take it easy!" yelled Agumon.  Tai's grasp on him got weak suddenly as Tai fell into a deep sleep.  Agumon rolled his eyes and patted Tai's head.

            "Great.  Now what do I do?" he asked no one.  A few seconds passed.  Agumon shrugged and fell asleep too.  

Before he could get comfy on the floor and sleep deeply, he heard the front door close.  His eyes popped open and he crawled away from Tai.  Agumon peered around the corner of the room and stared down the hall at the front door.  Gatomon was walking towards him, not really noticing him.

"Hi Gatomon," he said, "How'd your date with Veemon go?"

"Didn't go out with Veemon.  Went out with Patamon," she stated.

"It's okay; Kari had to make a quick run to Yolei's store for some food."

"I really did go out with Patamon," she said, blankly walking past him.

"Huh?  Why?" he asked, tagging along as she headed for the kitchen.  Gatomon sneered as she got some juice from the refrigerator.

"Because that little jerk lied to me!" she said. "I guess I wasn't good enough for him since I didn't put out."

"You didn't?  I mean!  Why not?  I mean!  What does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Know what that creep did?  He tried to take advantage of Kari."  Agumon stared at her, wide eyed.

"We're talking about Veemon, here, right?" he asked.

"Well, who else would we be talking about?!" she snapped.  Agumon took a step back.  Gatomon clenched her paw into a fist and took a few deep breaths, calming down somewhat.  "That's right," she said, "Patamon came and told me all about it.  Kari told him personally.  I never want to see that cretin again."  Gatomon scowled and poured her juice.  She continued to grimace as her glass over flooded with juice and spilled all over the counter.  Not looking, she chucked the now-empty juice carton behind her, missing the garbage can.  It landed unceremoniously in a pool of its own fluids like a dead corpse.  Agumon gulped, worried that he'd look the same way if he got her riled up.

"Well, what exactly did Patamon say?" Agumon asked, choosing his words carefully.

"What I just told you," she said, getting a bit testy again, "Veemon tried to molest Kari and then he lied to me about it."

"What did Veemon say?" asked Agumon.

"..... Well, he didn't actually LIE, he just didn't say anything about it," said Gatomon, annoyed that Agumon could find fault in her anger placement.

"Well, if Veemon didn't lie to you, don't you think you might be being a bit unfair?  Maybe he just didn't know how to react to that sort of accusation.  You know he's not very fast on his feet."

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, alright?!" she yelled.

"Okay okay!  Sorry," he said, walking out.  Agumon headed back towards Tai's room, obviously not wanted.  Before he reached the door, the hallway phone wrung.

"Who could be calling at this hour?" he thought, jumping up to snatch the receiver.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Agumon?  This is Veemon.  Is Gatomon there?" asked Veemon on the other end, sniffling a bit after getting over another crying spree.

"She is," whispered Agumon, "But she nearly took my head off just for ASKING about what YOU did.  I have a feeling you shouldn't talk to her right now."

"Who's on the phone, Agumon?!" yelled Gatomon from the kitchen.

"Just Veemon!" he called back.

"Tell him he can take his apologies and shove 'em straight up his tight blue a..!"  Agumon plugged his other hear with his finger and turned his attention back to the phone.  "See what I mean?" he whispered back to the receiver.

"But I need to talk to her," said Veemon, sniffling.

"Dude, what could you possibly say to her that won't wind up getting you killed in the end?"

"...I'm sorry?" asked Veemon, not having given this much thought.

"Begging for her forgiveness on hand and knee would be better.  You really need to plan stuff like this out, Veemon."

"But I didn't do anything!" said Veemon, "This is all a mistake!"

"You really think she's gonna believe YOU?" asked Agumon.

"Well, I guess not, but what else could I do?"

"Hmm......  Look, I hate to hear a fellow digimon of courage suffering like this, so I tell you what.  I'll take care of everything, okay?"

"......What are you gonna do?" asked Veemon, suspiciously.

"Just relax," said Agumon, "Agumon's on the case!"

"But..!" said Veemon, getting hung up on.

"When in doubt, fight fire with fire!" said Agumon, punching in a new number, "And no one knows more about fire than yours truly."  He waited for a little bit and finally Biyomon picked up.

"I'm sorry, but we're not in right now," she said, "Please leave your message.."

"Hi Biyomon, it's Agumon," said Agumon.

"Oh thank God!" she said, "I'm sick of pretending to be an answering machine."

"It's still not fixed?" asked Agumon.

"Nope.  So, what's up?" she asked.

"Well, I've got some interesting gossip I thought I'd tell you about," he said, craftily.

"Gossip???" she asked, excitedly, "UH!  Uhm... not that I care, ... but what's it about??"

"Well, did you know that Gatomon and Veemon were going steady?" he asked.

"Old news," she said, "What else ya got?"

"Well, I know why Veemon dumped Gatomon!" said Agumon.

"..Wait, VEEmon dumped GATOmon??" she asked, confused.

"That's right, he told me himself.  And if you think THAT'S strange, wait until you hear WHY he dumped her."

******Back in the kitchen******

            Can after can of alphabet soup had been poured upon the counter.  Gatomon was separating all of the 'V' and 'E' pieces and taking great pleasure in smashing them individually.

            "I can't believe he had the NERVE," she said, squashing a letter as she said 'nerve', "to call!"  She looked at a 'V' that was close to two 'E's.  Her ranting slowed down a bit.  She straightened them up so they properly spelled 'VEE'.  She frowned, remembering how much she used to like him.  Her frown quickly turned back to a sneer, however, as she smashed his name in one blow.  "Table's lucky I'm not wearing my tail ring," she muttered.

            "Oh Gatomon!" called, Agumon from the hallway, "Biyomon's on the phone for you!"  Gatomon sighed to herself.  A phone call from a girlfriend might be exactly what she needed.

******In the hallway******

Gatomon walked in and took the phone from him.  Agumon zipped away and listened in from behind a corner.

            "Hi, Biyomon!" said Gatomon, happily.

            "You should be ashamed of yourself!!" yelled Biyomon on the other end.

            "Huh?".

            "I can't believe you did that to poor Veemon!"

            "What I did to VEEmon???" said Gatomon, incredulously.

            "You know darn well he doesn't know much about being romantic," Biyomon lectured, "so coming on that strongly to him was just plain cruel."

            "I never came on to him!!!" yelled Gatomon.

            "Yeah, I'll bet," said Biyomon, "What a horrible thing to do.  What on Earth possessed you to try to force him into having sex with you, you hussy?!"

            "WHAT???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Gatomon at the top of her lungs, "How DARE you accuse me of that!!"

            "Looks like not much has really changed from when you were with Myotismon, Gatomon," said Biyomon, "You're still a villain at heart."  That said, Biyomon hung up.  Gatomon's teeth clenched tightly in sheer anger.  Her cheeks puffed out and her lips tightened as tears collected at her eyes.  Leaving the phone off the hook, she went back into the kitchen, sobbing all the way.  Agumon smacked his head.

            "Biyomon, you didn't have to bite her head off!" he said to no one.

******In the kitchen******

            Gatomon was weeping in a corner of the kitchen.  Agumon poked his head in, carefully.

            "Oh man, this wasn't what I wanted to have happen," he said to himself, "Um Gatomon?"

            "*sniff* what? *sniff*"

            "Are you okay?"

            "Just peachy!" she cried.

            "Uhmmmm.... look, this is all my fault.  I.. uh.. I lied to Biyomon and told her to tell you about that rumor," he admitted.

            "S-s-stop trying to cover for Veemon," she said, wiping her eyes.

            "..Uh.. Well.. maybe he sorta did that because you jumped to conclusions?" suggested Agumon, timidly.

            "What do you mean?" she asked, a bit of shakiness still in her voice.

            "Well, you never really gave him a chance to explain himself.  Maybe this is just.. uh.. his way of retaliating..."

            "Well, two wrongs don't make a right!" she snapped.

            "Sorry, sorry," said Agumon, truly sorry.

            "Fine then," she said, sternly, "If Veemon wants to play rough, so will I!"

            "Huh?"

            "I'm gonna give him a taste of his own medicine!" she said, smiling wickedly.

            "What about that whole, 'two wrongs don't make a right' thing?" asked Agumon.  Gatomon glared at him, shutting him up.

******At the Motomiya's******

            Veemon stared at himself in Davis's bedroom mirror.  He had taken a shower and had borrowed some of Davis's dad's cologne.  He brushed his ears back in an attempt to look different, but gave up.  He also tried not to pay attention to the small, candle-lit shrine that Davis had constructed for 'the cucumber' he had rescued from the trash.

            "Well, if an apology won't work, maybe these will!" he said, holding a box of candy and some flowers.  "These are for you, my love!" he said, holding them out to his reflection.  Davis snickered from the closet.  "What??" said Veemon, staring off at him.

            "You're not really gonna say that, are you?"

            "What's wrong with that?"

            "It's so corny," said Davis, sticking his head out of the closet with a chocolate bar in his mouth.

            "Well, if you're such a master of dating, why are you here and not out blackmailing  OOPS I mean, DATEing Kari?" asked Veemon, sarcastically.

            "For your information," said Davis, "I'm still working up the courage and second of all I can't go out on any date without a little sugar boost."

            "Well, all I know is that I've got my flowers and candy and I'm ready for action!" he said, optimistically.

            "......Say, where did you get those anyway?"

            "I got the flowers from your mom," said Veemon.

            "What about the candy?" asked Davis.

            "Davis!!" yelled Jun, heading toward them from the hallway.  "Have you seen the chocolates I was gonna give to Matt??"  Davis gave 'the look' to Veemon who shrugged.  Davis sighed and smeared his chocolate bar around his face while Veemon hid the candy.

            "You owe me for this," said Davis, walking out into the hall.  A faint, 'What chocolates?' could be heard before Jun started yelling at him.  Veemon cringed as he heard Davis being dragged away.

"Well, looks like I'm off the hook there," he thought, "Now how can I come up with a good reason to visit her?"

Just then, the phone wrung.  Veemon picked it off of it's receiver.

"Hello?" he said.

"Veemon?  This is Agumon.  Listen up and listen up real good!  Gatomon is gonna give you a call in about 10 minutes to invite you over.  When she does, say you'll be here soon and get over here real fast."

"Really??  She wants me over??" asked Veemon.

"Yeah, but there's something you absolutely NEED to do once you get here.  If you do it, I can guarantee you that you'll not only get back in her heart, but maybe even take your relationship a 'step further' if you catch my drift."

"Um.. okay, what do I do?" asked Veemon.

"Easy, just act like a complete pig."

"What???  Are you sure??" asked Veemon.

"Dude, just trust me, okay?"

"Alright, thanks.. uh.. dude."  Veemon hanged the phone back up and shrugged as he waited for Gatomon's call.

******Outside the Inoue's shop, 20 minutes later******

            "Thanks for the milk, Mr. Inoue!" Kari called out as she left the store.  "I really wish they had their store a bit more organized; I had to search for the milk for over an hour."  She heard a small singing as she started walking home.  Kari turned to look behind her and saw Veemon skipping along, singing.

            "I've got rhythm!  I've got music!" he sang.  Veemon came to an abrupt stop when he saw who was in front of him.  Kari gave him a quick dirty glance and turned her head away.

            "Oh, hello, Kari," said Veemon, equally annoyed.

            "What's THAT supposed to mean?" she asked, upset.

            "I'm not speaking to you," he said, "Not after you sicked Patamon on me like that."  Veemon continued to walk along, his good mood ruined.

            "Wah?" said Kari, catching up with him, "What are you talking about?"

            "Oh gee, how about the fact that you told Patamon to lie to Gatomon and say that I tried to take advantage of you?!" said Veemon, getting more upset.

            "What?!" said Kari, angrily, "I never told him to do that!"

            "Well, HE said you did and Gatomon sure believed him!  You know, it would have been just a LITTLE nicer if you had just told me yourself instead of embarrassing me in front of a bunch of strangers.  Now if you don't mind, I'm going off to patch things up.  Excuse me."

            "Now hold on just a second," said Kari, moving a bit faster, "I told Patamon the truth because I wanted him to prevent T.K. from hearing about it.  I never told him to talk to Gatomon at all!"

            "Yeah?  Well, he did.  Now she thinks I'm a lying creep."  Veemon moved ahead, leaving Kari standing behind him.  After a little bit, she ran back up to him.

            "Veemon, wait," she said, catching up again.

            "What?"

            "Look, I know I've been a bit unreasonable about all this," she said, "but I honestly never told Patamon to do that."  Veemon didn't reply.  "I.. well.. I guess I should sorta.. be thanking you," she admitted.  "You stopped me in the nick of time.  I almost did something I'd really regret."  Veemon cracked a little smile.

            "Heh.. I guess I should have figured out you weren't cut since you weren't bleeding though."

            "Well, only Davis's digimon could make that mistake," she snickered.

            "You've got a point there," said Veemon, "Oh!  That reminds me.  Just for future knowledge that I think you'll need pretty soon, Davis made a shrine out of that particular cucumber."  Kari cracked up, almost dropping her milk.

            "What??" she laughed, "Are you serious???"

            "Yup," said Veemon, "He's got candles around it and bows to it and everything."

            "Hahahahaha!!!  Oh BROTHER," she laughed.

            "Um.. so, are we friends again?" asked Veemon after she had quieted down.

            "Sure," she said, "C'mon, I'll walk you back to our place."

            "Thanks!" he said, "So, is it okay, if I keep going out with Gatomon?"

            "..Oh why not," she shrugged, "But let's try not to meet that way again, alright?"

            "Deal," he said, happily skipping alongside her.

To be continued...


	10. White, Blue, and Red

For The Love of a Gatomon

Chapter 10: White, Blue, and Red

            Gatomon was in the living room, placing several loose leaf papers on the coffee table.  She stepped back and looked at them, contemplating their position.

            "Agumon, does this look typical?" she asked.  Agumon came in holding a pillow and some red silk sheets.  He put them down and looked over her work.

            "Yeah, that looks pretty 'casually strewn,'" he said, frowning uncomfortably, "but are you sure you want to go through with this?"

            "Are you kidding??  After what he did, I think he's getting what he deserved," she said, determined.

            "Well, not to deter you or anything, but the last time you tried to trick him into not wanting you, it blew up in your face," said Agumon.

            "Hey, that was YOUR plan, remember?" she asked, "Besides, if I know Veemon this'll make him fall apart at the seams."

            "I dunno.  Veemon's still a guy, you know," said Agumon, "What if he's just been playing innocent?"

            "Agumon, listen to yourself!" she said, picking up one of the red silk sheets and draping it over a lamp, "Since when has Veemon ever been able to successfully cover up anything?"

            "What about when he pretended not to know you were trying to trick him?" asked Agumon, knowingly.

            "... Well, even HE can be clever.  But he totally won't see this coming at all," she said, burying through a purse that was next to the couch.  "Move that chair, will ya?"  She pointed at a chair blocking the coffee table and the couch from the doorway.  Agumon complied and pushed it up against a wall.  Gatomon emerged from the purse with some lipstick and applied it.  Agumon stared in a trance as she ran the stick across her lips, reddening them ever so slightly.  Seeing that he was staring, she turned at looked back, cocking her eyes.

            "What?" she asked.

            "Oh, nothing," Agumon sighed lovingly, "It's just that, seeing you right now reminds me of my first time."

            "Your first time doing what?" she asked.

            "Oh, seducing someone just to creep them out as payback for calling me a tramp," he said, still sarcastically sighing.

            "Knock it off," she said, glaring at him, "That's so typical of you.  You're just taking his side because you and he are both digimon of courage."

            "That's not true at all!" exclaimed Agumon, covering another lamp with a red silk sheet, "It's because I think you're jumping to conclusions.  I mean, there are really two possibilities here:  The first one is that things will go as planned.  You'll throw your body at him and it'll scare the heck out of him because he's so naïve.  The second one is that you'll try this and he'll give up on the nice guy routine and go at it like an animal.  It's only a 50% shot, ya know."

            "Nuh uh," said Gatomon, insistently as she applied some blush, "If he did that, he'd just be admitting to being a little hentai.  See?  I've got this pretty well planned."

            "I guess so, but there's STILL one catch," said Agumon, having planned this out more carefully than one could tell from his previous ideas, "Even if Veemon DOES act like a pig, you won't be able to stop acting like a hussy.  If you do, it'll just reveal that you're tricking him and give him ammo."

            "..So big deal," said Gatomon, shocking Agumon, "I can handle anything HE can dish out.  Hmm...  I can see it all now..."

******Begin Dream Sequence******

            The door to the Kamiya's house opens slowly.  Veemon is standing there, looking VERY depressed.  He sees Gatomon sitting on the couch looking sexy as ever.

            "Oh, Gatomon!  My love!  I'm SO sorry that I tried to rape Kari," he cries out, falling at her feet, "I can't help being an inconsiderate idiot who doesn't deserve a dainty flower such as yourself!  Say you'll forgive me?  Please??"

            "I'll do a LOT more than THAT," says Gatomon, leaping off the couch and grabbing Veemon.  She pulls him up against her and falls down on top of him.  "Now tongue me, Baby!  Digi-style!"

            "Eeeeeek!" Veemon screams, like a little girl, "Your raw beauty and pure sexiness are too much for my fragile little mind to handle!"  He zips away from her and runs towards the door, crying.  "I feel so awful for spreading that rumor about you but now it's too late and I've gotten what I deserve.  You've made me feel so uncomfortable and shown me just how foolish and cruel I was to you Gatomon!  I'm going to go jump off of a cliff.  Goodbye!"  That said, he runs out the door and Gatomon falls on the floor, cracking up.  The plan is successful.

******End Dream Sequence******

            "Hah," said Gatomon, "This'll be a piece of cake."  Agumon rolled his eyes and walked to the window after setting up the final mood light.  He looked down to the street and saw two familiar figures heading towards the elevator.

            "Uhh.. Gatomon, Veemon's on his way up, but so is Kari," he said, motioning for her to come to the window.

            "What?!" said Gatomon rushing to look down too.

            "Oh no!  Kari can't find out what I'm up to!  Quick, run down there and get rid of Kari!"

            "I'm on it!" said Agumon, rushing out the door.

******At the bottom of the elevator******

            Kari was organizing the flowers that Veemon had brought into a nicer bouquet.

            "And last, but most important of all, Veemon," she said, "Treat Gatomon like a lady, alright?  She's very sensitive about what people think of her.  She had a lot of rough experiences when she worked for Myotismon and plenty afterwards because of that.  Understand?"

            "Uh huh," said Veemon, feeling guilty even though he hadn't done anything, "Um.. but what if she doesn't believe me?  What if she still thinks I'm lying??"

            "That's why I'm going with you, silly," said Kari, handing the flowers back to him, "Now then, what are you gonna do?"

            "Give her the flowers, tell her how nice she looks, kiss her paw, and leave unless she lets me stay," Veemon listed.

            "Perfect," said Kari.  At this moment, the elevator doors opened and Agumon walked out.

            "Hi guys," said Agumon, "Glad I caught you.  Kari, could I talk to you for a minute?"

            "Sure," she said, walking towards him.  Agumon motioned for her to come closer, so she bent down.

"Listen, Gatomon's forgiven Veemon and she wants to have a chat with him alone.  Is there any place you could hang out for a while?" Agumon whispered.

"Oh, sure," said Kari, "I think I......  Well, well, well."  Agumon looked at Kari curiously.  Patamon was flying from the other direction, flowers in hand.  "Looks like I won't have to go pay T.K. a visit.  I can lecture Patamon from right here!  I guess Veemon doesn't need me if Gatomon's forgiven him, anyway."  She handed Agumon the milk she had gotten from the store.

"Just put this in the fridge and try to keep Tai in his room, okay?"

"You got it," said Agumon as Kari walked off towards Patamon.  

As soon as she was heading off, Agumon zipped over to Veemon and dragged him towards the elevator.  Punching a button, the doors closed.

"You remember what I told you, right?" he asked.

"Huh?" said Veemon, "What did you tell me?"

"Ugh!  About how to behave, dummy!" said Agumon.

"Well, yeah, but Kari said..."

"Forget what Kari said, Veemon.  Listen, Gatomon is up there right now.  She has mood lighting on and is wearing lipstick.  She wants you, mon!"

"What??  Really???"

"That's right, so whatever you do, DON'T play the Mr. nice guy routine.  Get up there and go along with whatever animalistic behavior she uses," said Agumon.

"But but but!  I don't know HOW to act like that!"

"Oh for crying out loud!  Are you really that naïve?" asked Agumon, "Here, if you can't think of anything to say, just ask her if she wants to do any of these:"  Agumon leaned in and whispered a bunch of words in Veemon's ear.

"Huh?  But I don't even know what those are."

"It doesn't matter," said Agumon, they're just there in case of emergency.

"But!  But!  What if she gets mad??"

"Oh come on, Veemon, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Hmm...," thought Veemon.

******Begin Dream Sequence******

            Veemon is in the Kamiya's apartment.  He grabs Gatomon by her waist and pulls her up against him.

            "I want you, Baby!" he says, with a dirty look in his eye.

            "GRRR!!!" she snarls.  Gatomon plants her foot between his legs and Veemon falls down in pain.

******End Dream Sequence******

            Veemon shivered at that thought.

            "Look, you'll just have to trust me on this," said Agumon.  "If all else fails, just think like Davis....  Only successful...  Now push the button!"

            "*gulp* well, okay" said Veemon, nervously pushing the button.

            Agumon and Veemon rode the elevator to the appropriate floor.  The ride was a bit shaky, though, since Veemon's nervous vibrations seemed to move the elevator along with him.  When they got out, Agumon and he tiptoed towards the Kamiya's door.

            "Okay," whispered Agumon, "You wait here.  I'm gonna head in first and you come in a few minutes later, alright?"

            "Got it," said Veemon.

            "Remember, no matter what happens, DON'T break out of character."

            "I'm really not too sure about this, Agumon," said Veemon.

            "Veemon, she WANTS this.  You're making her happy by doing this, okay?"

            ".....Well.... if it makes her happy..."

            "That's the spirit!  Don't worry about a thing.  I'll be standing in the hallway behind a plant.  If you need me, just say 'hot' and I'll try to help you out.  Oh, and don't forget those phrases I just taught you," he said, opening the door.  Agumon headed inside, leaving Veemon out on the balcony.

            "Act like a pig, don't break character, remember bizarre phrases, 'hot' for help," Veemon listed to himself, "I really hope he's right.  ..  Maybe I should just go with what Kari suggested.  It seems much simpler..  Well, I'll just try Agumon's first and if it fails, I'll go with Kari's!  Perfect!  Wait, how will I know if it's not working if I can't break character??  Oh mon.."

            The few minutes, as far as Veemon could tell without a watch on, were over.  He took a deep breath and opened the door slightly.

            The apartment was mostly dark except for the sexy mood lights all over.  Veemon opened the door completely and could see that no one was in the room.

            "..Um...  Hello?" he ventured.  There was no response.  Veemon took a few steps in, calling, 'hello?' a few more times.  The front door slowly closed behind him as Gatomon, previously hidden behind it, closed it with her tail.  Veemon spun around backwards upon hearing it lock.

            "OH!  Uh.. hiya Gats..," he said, nervous.

            "Well, helloooooo VEEmon," she said, sauntering up to him.

            "Uh.. heh heh.. yo," he said, trying to remain calm.  Gatomon slowly wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled her body tight up against him, causing him to drop his presents.

            "So, how's my Veedly-Deedly doing, hmmmm?" she asked, one of the claws of her right front paw tracing a circle on his chest.

            "Um.. F-f-f-f-f...  Gee, it's a little HOT in here, isn't it?"  Veemon asked, looking desperately at the plant in the hallway.  Agumon popped up and stared at Veemon, holding his arms out as if to say, 'What?'  Veemon looked at him expectantly and mouthed, 'Well?  What now??'  Agumon rolled his eyes.  He pulled up the front of his nose slightly so Veemon could see his nostrils better.  Veemon stared at it for a few seconds.  He finally realized Agumon was trying to say, 'Act like a pig, stupid!'

            "Right.  Pig," Veemon said to himself, barely audible.

            "Pardon?" asked Gatomon, her act broken slightly.

            "Oh!  I .. uh.. said... ripe.. fig," said Veemon, unable to come up with anything better.

            "..Ripe fig?" she asked, confused.

            "Yeah.. cause.. I FIGured you look ripe for the pluckin'," said Veemon, beginning his 'pig' act and pinching one of her butt cheeks.

            "Yipe!" she said, hopping from the unexpected pinch.  Gatomon cocked her eyes at Veemon.  "What was that for?" she asked, a little unsure.

            "That's because.. I want, you, BABY!" he said, pinching the other side of her tush.

            "Ah!  W-w-wha?" she said, "Well... well.. I want YOU!"  She pinched HIS butt this time.  "And I want it, baaaaaad," she said, reaching her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hot kiss.  Veemon looked towards Agumon, panicking.  Agumon gave him two thumbs up, mouthing, 'Way to go!'  Gatomon broke the kiss, panting.

            "Oh, Vee, you kiss like a dream," she said, rubbing herself against him now.

            "And you're.. you're so.. HOT," he said, looking back at Agumon.  Agumon just shrugged, unsure of what else to suggest.

            "What is he looking at, over there?" Gatomon thought.  She turned her head towards the hall just in time to see the last half of Agumon's head ducking behind the plant.  "NOW I get it," she thought, an evil smirk on her face, "So THAT'S why Agumon said he might act like this.  Boys, you're busted!"

            "Veemon?" she asked, still acting turned on, "can I tell you a deep, DARK, secret of mine?"

            "Sure thing, cutie-pie," he said, trying to act suave.  Agumon leapt up from behind the plant and began moving one of his claws across his neck and shaking his head, 'no.'  "Uh, honey-poo," Veemon said, correcting himself.  Agumon shook his head and moved his finger more frantically.  "I mean, ... hot mama?" said Veemon, looking at Agumon.  Agumon gave him the thumbs up.  "Yeah, sure thing, hot mama," said Veemon, suavely again.

            "Well, don't tell anyone," said Gatomon, her dainty, kitty lips next to his ear, "but I like it rough."  That said, she raised her knee and slammed in right into his gut.

            "Glah!!" said Veemon as Gatomon let go of him and turned her back.  She walked towards the coffee table, shaking her bottom with each step.  Veemon couldn't really notice, though, as he was currently hunched over in pain, clutching his stomach.

            "Oh, Veemon," said Gatomon, her back still to him, "you have no idea how much that turned me ON!"

            "Glad I could oblige," he said, barely audible.  He turned his head at Agumon as he slowly regained his strength.  Agumon looked at him with disdain.  He pointed at Veemon, patted his right bicep, threw a couple of punches, and raised his arms to indicate that Veemon is a strong fighter and that he should get up.  Veemon stared back at him in shock.

            "He thinks I should hit her back??" he thought, "Well, if it's what Gatomon wants..."  Veemon stood up, the effects of the gut-bashing wearing off.  Agumon gave him the thumbs up sign again as Veemon determinedly walked towards Gatomon.  He wrapped his arms around her, tightly.

            "Gats, you really know how to light my fire!" he said, not letting down.

            "Persistent, aren't you?" Gatomon thought.

            "But, to tell you the truth," he said, gripping her to him, tightly, "I like it rough too!"  That said, his left arm grabbed her right one.  He spun around to his left, pulling her off of the ground onto his back, completed his rotation and flung her over his shoulder into the top of the couch.

            "Hey!  Waah!!!" she yelled.  Gatomon flew into it, and bounced/flipped right over it, landing behind it on the floor.  Veemon gave the thumbs up sign to Agumon.  Agumon smacked himself in the forehead.

            Gatomon's eyes were rolling around in their sockets.

            "What just happened??" she thought, shaking off the dizzies, "Rrrghhh!  Oh, so THAT'S how he wants to play."

            Gatomon leapt up from behind the couch, tackling the unsuspecting Veemon.

            "Woah!" he cried as she pounced on him, tiger-like.

            "Oh GOD Veemon," she said, "I LOVE you!!"  She kissed him hard on the lips, pulled away, slapped the heck out of him ("OW OW!", he yelled.), and kissed him again.  Veemon pulled her away.

            "Oh BABY!" he cried, grabbing her tail.  Before she could say anything, he bit down on it hard.

            "YEEEOOOWWW!!!!" she yelled, leaping off.  Gatomon landed a few feet away, her back to him and her tail in her hands.  She gingerly blew on it, cradling her wounded limb.

            "Why that little...," she thought, "Okay, if the indirect and violent methods don't work, looks like I'll have to be blunt."  She realized she was losing this fight as she stood around thinking, though.

"Yeeeeowww...zah!" she corrected herself, "Oh Veemon, I can't stand it anymore!"  Gatomon slid the 'casually placed' loose leaf papers off of the coffee table and hopped up onto it.  She laid back and raised her legs.  Veemon's eyes widened slightly as Gatomon's legs spread wide open like a contortionist.  His face turned beet red and he turned away.

"Oh, Veemon!  Take me now!!" she proclaimed.

"I-I-I-I-I" he stuttered, not sure if he should turn back around or not, "Oh but Gatomon.. you're so HOT!!"

"Heh, I've got him now!" she thought.  He frantically turned Agumon who was currently staring at Gatomon, slack-jawed.  Agumon snapped out of it, upon hearing the signal.  Veemon looked at Agumon desperately.  Agumon gave him the, 'How stupid are you??' look.  He placed his hands on either side of what appeared to be an imaginary soccer ball.  Holding it down near his stomach, he thrust his hips to and away from it.  Veemon figured out what that meant and frantically shook his head, 'no,' not at all prepared for this.  Agumon nodded 'yes' quickly.  Veemon shook his head even more frantically.  Agumon gave Veemon the thumbs up again, leaving Veemon helpless.  "Uhhh...  You're so hot.. that.. that I don't want this to be over with so quickly!" he ad-libbed.

"What's he up to?" she thought.

"How about a little... umm.......," he said, trying to think of the word Agumon had taught him, "Three fun?  No.. um..  HOT dang, what's the word?"  Agumon was trying to figure out what word Veemon was trying to use.  After a few seconds, he figured it out.  Agumon held up two fingers to Veemon.

"Two words," said Veemon, watching.  Agumon held up one claw.

"First word," said Veemon.  Agumon pointed at his ear.

"Sounds like..," said Veemon watching.  Agumon pointed to the door of Tai's room.

"Sounds like.. door?  Door.. door.. door," Veemon said, thinking aloud.  Agumon rolled his eyes and held up four fingers using both his hands.

"Oh!  Four!  Four.. four..," Veemon said.  Agumon danced around, trying to look like he was playing.  Gatomon, rolled her eyes and tapped her claws on her legs, waiting for Veemon to get it.  Veemon turned directly at Agumon, forgetting that he wasn't supposed to be there.

"Four-frolic?  Four-game?  OH!  Foursquare!" he said, excitedly.  Agumon smacked himself in the forehead.

"Foreplay?" Gatomon asked, deadpan.  Agumon jumped up and pointed at her, frantically to say, 'Yes!  That's it!!'

"Oh!  Uhh!!  Yeah, how about a little foreplay, sweet thing?" asked Veemon, back in character.  He turned back to her and started kissing her toes.

"Oooo, yeah," she said, "that sounds good to me!"  Gatomon smiled wickedly and grabbed one of Veemon's ears.

"Owch!" he cried as she pulled him over her knees.

"And what's better for foreplay than a good old spanking?"

"Huh??" asked Veemon as Gatomon grabbed his tail and raised her paw.

"GOD Veemon, you're SUCH a TURN on!" she yelled, smacking his butt with each accented word, "EsPECially the way you BIT MY TAIL!"

"Oh yeah?!" said Veemon.  He wrapped his left arm around her back and rolled away, pulling HER over HIS knee!

"Well, I think YOU'RE easily TWICE as SEXy as ME!!" he said, spanking her just as hard, "But MAYbe if you hadn't SLUGGED me in the STOmach, I WOULDn't have BITten your LOUsy TAIL!"

"Uh oh," said Agumon, "This definitely won't turn out well."

"Oh YEAH?!" yelled Gatomon, pushing herself off of his lap.  They both stood, facing each other angrily.

"Well, maybe if you weren't acting like a pig I wouldn't have done that!"

"That's right!  Instead, you would have kept acting like hussy for who knows what reason!"

"At least I'M not the one spreading rumors, you jerk!!" she yelled, pushing him hard.

"Well, at least I'm not accusing you of something you DIDN'T do!!" he yelled, pushing her right back.

"You liar!!!" she yelled tackling him.

"YOU'RE the liar!!" he yelled, wrestling with her.

"Take that back!!" she screamed, rolling them towards the flowers and chocolate.

"Maybe I will, once you smell these LOVELY flower I brought you!" he shouted, bashing her in the face with the flowers.  Gatomon sneezed as the pollen got in her nose.

"Oh yeah?!" she shouted back through the flowers, "Well, I INSIST on sharing the chocolate!!"  Gatomon opened up the box and smushed as many balls of chocolate against Veemon's face as she could.

"Why you!" he yelled as more and more candy was jammed in his mouth.

"You rotten..!" she yelled, as she flowers were continually shoved in her face.

"WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING??!!!!" yelled Kari, standing in the doorway.  She had just come back from lecturing Patamon about lying and saw them both on the floor.  Veemon was on top of Gatomon, still shoving the flowers in her face and she was still sticking more chocolate in his.  They were both frozen in place.

".......Uh.. well," said Gatomon, looking at Veemon for a suggestion.  He gave her a small shrug.  "Um.. this.. uh.. this is the most romantic part of the digimon mating ritual, Kari:  The.. um.. chocolate and flowers fight.  Heh heh heh..."

"Mapheeshed (What she said.)," said Veemon, smiling helplessly.  Kari glared at them, not buying it for a minute.  She stomped in and grabbed them both by their arms.  Kari rounded the corner of the hallway, ignoring Agumon, still hiding behind the plant, and kicked open the door to the room she shared with Tai.

"Tai!  Out!" she ordered, waking up her still-sleeping brother.  Tai grumbled and trudged out of the door.  Gatomon and Veemon were dumped on the lower bed by Kari, the flowers and chocolate no longer available as ammo.

"You two are going to stay in here until you're friends again," said Kari, "Until then, don't expect to be let out!"  She stomped away and slammed the door behind her.

Veemon and Gatomon stared at each other for a few seconds, contemplating.  Simultaneously, they both turned away and folded their arms.

"I don't know why I should bother talking to you," said Veemon, "You'd probably just accuse me of lying again."

"Well, I don't see why I should apologize to the digimon who tried to rape my best friend!" said Gatomon, even more upset.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You know DARN well what that means!" said Gatomon, turning to face him.

"I can't believe you really think Patamon was telling you the truth!" he shouted, turning to face her, "Why do you always assume the worst of me?!  How come it's never, 'Oh, Veemon would NEVER hurt Kari' or 'Maybe PATAmon's the one who's lying?'  ..  What about, 'I trust Veemon!' or.. or 'I LOVE Veemon!'"  Neither of them said anything for a little bit.  Veemon turned away again.

"Yeah.. yeah well, maybe I COULD've trusted you if this whole relationship hadn't been based on such shaky ground.  The only way you got me to like you in the first place was by tricking me, so how COULD I trust you after that??"

"Oh stop it," he said, "Now you're sounding just like that soap opera that YOU stole the idea from in the first place."  That shut her up... for a little while anyway.

"..Well, it was Agumon's idea anyway.  ..... And.. well he DID admit to starting the rumor that I was a hussy."

"But you didn't believe him," finished Veemon, facing her again.

"..Yeah.  I didn't think he had a reason to," she admitted.

"Oh, but I suppose I did?"

"Well," she said, "yeah.  I mean I DID dump you without giving you a chance to explain."

"Okay.. I guess you had a good reason.....," said Veemon, a bit unconvincingly.

"When we get out of here I am SO gonna let Patamon have it," she said, changing the topic.

"... Yeah.. well.. about that...," said Veemon, "I sorta can't really blame him."

"What do you mean?" she asked, "His lie ruined our relationship!"

"I didn't say I wasn't angry at him," said Veemon, "But.. well.. frankly he was in line for your heart before me.  I can't blame him for trying to get his place back."

"I'm not a carnival ride, Veemon," said Gatomon, "I'M the one who chooses."

"..Then why'd you choose me?"

".....I dunno.  You grew on me, I guess," she admitted.  "......I'm sorry I pulled this stupid prank."

"Well.. I kinda liked it," he said, sheepishly, "Except for the kicking and biting and stuff."  Veemon rubbed his stomach from where she had kneed him.  Gatomon stared at him and giggled slightly.

"What?" he asked.

"Sorry, but with that chocolate around your mouth and you rubbing your stomach, you look like a sad clown with a belly ache," she said, smiling.  Veemon chuckled slightly.  He wiped some chocolate off of his face and ate it.

"..Hmm.. not bad."  Gatomon wiped some off of the other side of his mouth and tasted it too.

"You're right," she said.  Veemon smiled and wiped the par below his mouth off and stuck that finger in her mouth.  While she slurped the chocolate off, she cleaned off the area above his chops and stuck that finger in his mouth.  They both looked at each other for a few moments before giggling at how ridiculous they looked.  The giggles died down and they stopped to stare at each other for a moment.

"Hey.. um.. sorry I kneed you in the stomach," said Gatomon.

"I'll live," he said, "How's your tail?"

"It still works," she said, smiling.

"Hey.. I'm sorry I flung you into the couch too," he said, "Oh and I'm sorry I hit you with flowers."  Gatomon smirked.

"What made you decide to do that anyway?"

"Well, I didn't want to hurt you," he said.

"Hahaha!  You didn't want to hurt me after biting me and throwing me into upholstery??" she asked, laughing.

"Pretty silly, huh?" he asked.

"Yup."

"......Hey, I've got a question," said Veemon.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well, before I came up here, Agumon gave me a few terms to use and I was wondering if you could tell me what they mean?"

"Um.. okay," said Gatomon.  Veemon leaned in and whispered them into her ear.  Gatomon's eyes bugged open upon hearing them.

".......Uhhhhhh.. well, the first one.. um.. means..... uh... juice, and the second one is another word for.. uh.. piece of cake," she lied.

"Oh," he said, a bit confused, "I wonder why he wanted me to talk about food."

"Ah, you know Agumon.. always obsessed with the munchies," she said, a little embarrassed.

"Yeah... So, are we friends again?" he asked, carefully.

"I think so," she said, "......I guess that means we can come out."  Neither of them said anything for a little while.

"Gatomon?" he asked.

"What?" she asked.

"......I want you to go back to Patamon," he stated.

"WHAT??" she said, "Why???"  
            "Look, it's not that I don't like you.  It's just that this doesn't seem to be working out.  We've barely been going out for a week and already we've been on the verge of breaking up at least twice."

"..Well.. that's true," she admitted.

"Besides, I think things were a lot easier when you just thought I was an annoying creep," he said.

"I never really thought of you like that," she said, "Just someone who came on a bit too strong is all."

"Oh," he said.

"......Veemon," she said, "C'mon up to the top bunk.  There's something I want to show you."  Veemon shrugged as she climbed up the ladder.  After she had climbed up, Veemon made it to the top rung of the ladder.  He was surprised when a bright red sheet flopped down over his head.

"What gives?" he asked.  Moments after his question, he was pulled under the sheet and onto the bed by Gatomon who had pulled the sheet over herself as well.  "Woah!  What?  What'd I do?"  She carefully crawled on top of him and put her face right in front of his.

"Veemon, relationships always have snags in them.  Part of being in love is figuring out how to untangle those knots.  Do you understand?"

"Um.. yes."

"Good.  Because you may be ready to give me up, but I'm not at ALL ready to let you go," she said, kissing him on the lips.  Veemon didn't move for a moment, not sure what to do.  His decision was final, though, as he held her close and kissed her back.  Her soft white fur, his light blue skin, and the surrounding red of the sheets became a myriad of colors as time ticked slowly and enjoyably by.

The End

Special Commemorative Pic by GodOfChaosMarc and Colored by Dark Silence

http://www.digiartistsdomain.com/fortheloveofagatomonsmooch.jpg

Epilogue:

            It was the next morning and Kari was asleep on the couch.  A painful stench caused her to awaken.  Tai's feet were right in her face.

            "Oh gross!" she exclaimed, pushing his feet away, "That's the last time I allow even TEN fighting digimon to keep me from sleeping in my own bed!"

            "What??" moaned Tai, wanting to get back to sleep.  Kari got off of the couch and walked towards the kitchen.

            "You're feet smell about as bad as Agumon's morning breath," she muttered.

            "Hey, I resemble that remark," muttered Agumon from a chair.  Kari went to the refrigerator and got some orange juice out.  As she took the carton from the fridge, Veemon walked in.

            "Oh, hi Veemon," said Kari, "Did you and Gatomon make up or are you just the one that survived?"

            "Uh.. heh, yeah, we definitely made up," he said, smiling goofily.

            "Well, good," she said, "You want some breakfast?"

            "Sure," he said, looking through the fridge.

"Hey, guess what?  Davis came by last night after I sent you and Gatomon to our room."

"He didn't try to blackmail you, by any chance, did he?" asked Veemon, a bit cautious.

"Yes, he did," she said, a little miffed since Veemon had obviously blabbed, "But I got rid of him with that info you gave me about the shrine he built."

"Uh oh.  Does he know I blabbed to you about that??" he asked, worried.

"Not quite," she said, giggling, "When I told him I knew, I explained that it was because us girls form a mental connection with whatever we stick in our.. uh.. well, anyway I said that's how we always know what our boyfriends are thinking."

"Hahaha!!!  Did he buy that??" asked Veemon.

"Yep!" she said, giggling, "I don't think I've ever seen him run away that fast in my life!"

"Oh great, I guess now I can expect to see Davis flexing for his shrine," said Veemon, cracking up.

"Haha!  Send me a video, kay?" she joked as Veemon continued to rummage through the fridge.

"I still sorta feel bad for Patamon, though," he mentioned.

"Oh, I think he'll be okay," said Kari, "After I was finished lecturing him, he took off for Sora's place to talk to Biyomon."

"Patamon and Biyomon?  Well, I guess stranger things have happened," he said.

He noticed a big piece of cake left over from someone's birthday.  Kari took a nice mouthful of delicious juice as Veemon pulled the cake out.

"Say, Kari, now that you and I are friends, how about if we have a little celebration?"

"Sure, what did you have in mind?" she asked, taking another sip.

"Oh, I know," said Veemon, slicing her a piece of cake, "How about a Dirty Sanchez after you finish your poontang?"

            Kari spat her orange juice all over the sink.

THE END! :D

Thanks a lot to everyone who read this story!  I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it :D  Special thanks go out to Hell's Hauntress, Jodan, Cobra21, Cherry, daisukefire, and even Devidramon who insisted I change the rating to R ;)  Btw, my reason for that is this:  though there are several 'not for children' situations in this story, none of them are very descriptive (R worthy) or depict any actual sex (NC-17 worthy).  That's why it's still pg-13.  Now, if you want to pan my lemons, go to http://www.digiartistsdomain.com/sonimon.htm and insult away.  Just make sure you send those messages to sonimodb@mindspring.com.  Well, goodbye for now!

Sonimon


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